Those Eyes
by jaenivertopleaf
Summary: AU, starts with Bella's birth. Normal couples and the Cullens are still vampires. First fanfic, so be nice and review. Letting Esme baby-sit me for Charlie was never Carlisle’s best decision...
1. Chapter 1 Memories

My very first fanfic, well the first that i'm uploading anyway. It's AU, and starts when Bella is born, still all the same couples and the Cullens are still vampires. I've written 3 chapters for this story so far, and i'm planning on uploading the following two in the next few days. If I get enough reviews, I'll write more and upload more^^ So please READ & REVIEW! Thank you, kisses

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Chapter One - Memories

Finally the day had arrived that I would go to high school. Carlisle and Esme's 'children' would join me in two years time, pretending to transfer from another school; for what would be their I-don't-know-how-manieth-time through high school. I wasn't supposed to know about what they really were, but letting Esme baby-sit me for Charlie was never Carlisle's best decision.

My mother, Renee, died when she gave birth to me. There was a time in my life that I absolutely hated myself for that, but I've learned to live with it and make sure that what ever I do would make Renee proud of me. When I was born, Charlie was at a loss. He had no idea how to take care of himself let alone a baby. Luckily for him, that's when Carlisle and Esmee Cullen moved into the manor, whose grounds ran up to our back door. Charlie was having problems with going to work and taking care of a little baby, hating to put me in a day care centre. When Carlisle and Esmee came over for the first time and Esmee offered to baby sit it was a gigantic load of Charlie's shoulders. That was how I happened to grow up around vampires without even knowing it. At times something weird would happen, like when I was four years old. I don't remember a lot of what happened that day; I just have this vivid image stored in my memory. Two blood red eyes looking at me hungrily as if I was lunch instead of a four year old just returning from her first day at primary school on the hand of Esmee.

Another incident from when I was nine I remember much better. This time I returned from school on my own, Charlie had told Esmee that I was old enough to ride to school on my bike by myself. I was very proud of myself at the time, though I was one of the last kids that got dropped off and picked up from school. As I entered through the Cullens' kitchen door I looked around for Esmee. She usually had a tray of cookies on the counter ready for me to attack but this time there was no Esmee and no cookies. Curious I walked into the living room, seeing a strange man sitting in a chair across from Carlisle and Esmee.

"Hey Esmee, is everything okay?" I had asked. The strange man had his back towards me; otherwise I would have immediately seen his blood red eyes. I heard someone take in a deep breath and then the strange man spoke.

"I know you two are vegetarians but I must say I'm very pleased that you brought me an appetiser," I didn't know what the man meant cause there was no food on the table, Carlisle and Esmee didn't even seem to have offered him a drink.

Since the moment I walked in Esmee had a look on her face that I could only describe as deep fear, Carlisle looked a little calmer but not by a lot. Both their bodies seemed tense and ready to run. Quicker than I had ever seen her move, Esmee was standing at my side.

"Bella honey, why don't you go upstairs and work on your homework in Edwards' room? I'll be up in a sec to give you a hand," Esmee had said, her voice urgent as she basically pushed me towards the stairs.

I had gone upstairs like Esmee had told me to and when I went home a couple of hours later the strange man had gone and neither Esmee nor Carlisle ever brought him up again.

By that time I had met one of Carlisle and Esme's 'children', Edward, though they had introduced him as an old friend that stayed over for longer periods of time. The first time I met Edward he didn't stay long and every time I was at the house he would leave as soon as it wouldn't seem rude to do so. He had seemed weird to me, though he was incredibly handsome and it was hard for me, even as an eight year old, to keep my eyes of him.

When I was twelve I finally learned the truth about Carlisle and Esme and their so called 'friends'. It was the first time I met Emmett, apparently he had not been warned about me being in the house and kind of flipped out when he smelled me. I had been in the 'guest room', which of course really was Edwards room, trying to study for a test I had the next day but not really getting anything to stick in my head. I heard Emmett's booming voice roar from the ground floor of the house.

"Who is here?!" he shouted loudly, as I heard him run up the stairs, apparently following my sent. I quickly picked up my things and hid in the walk-in closet, Esme had gone out for a minute to buy some groceries and Carlisle was at the hospital. I hoped that the strange yelling voice wouldn't find me in the closet but of course that was a stupid thought. Within seconds the closet door was kicked open and a giant man, though strangely kind and huggable looking, sought my eyes.

"Who are you?!" his voice boomed through the little space I was in. At first I was at a loss for words, I had never seen him before in this house and he was asking who I was? As if he had a right to just barge into Carlisle and Esme's home and start asking questions. He was the one who didn't belong there. As I realised this I got both more scarred and more controlled over my own actions.

"Don't you mean, who are you?" I returned the question, which caused an awkward look to cross the man's face. "I practically live here and I've never seen you before, so tell me who you are or get the hell out!"

This seemed to catch the man of guard, and while he tried to figure out what was going on Esme, luckily returned home. She soon, too, stood in the doorway to the walk-in closet, looking at me, more like scanning me for injuries.

"Come here Bella," Esme said as she held her hand out for me. I took it but stayed in the closet, not wanting to pass the strange man. "Move Emmett."

Emmett still didn't understand what was going on but dazedly moved from the room back to the living room.

"I'm sorry Bella, I didn't know Emmett was stopping by today," Esme told me as she guided me, down the stairs, towards the kitchen where she had placed her groceries. She handed me an apple to eat, though I wasn't hungry.

"Esme, who is he?" I asked. It wasn't the question I really wanted to ask, but I figured it was a good place to start.

"His name is Emmett and he's an old friend like Edward, remember him?" Esme stated simply, like nothing strange had happened. "Emmett? Why don't you come in here and introduce yourself properly," Esme called to the living room, more ordering than asking Emmett to come into the kitchen.

It took a while but eventually Emmett entered the kitchen grudgingly and sat down at the end of the counter.

"Hi," he said, clearly still not sure what was going on. "Uhm, I'm Emmett."

"Hey," I responded not quite sure what to say to this guy. "I'm Bella."

"I'm sorry if I scarred you earlier Bella," Emmett said, his face showed me that he meant what he said, but I still had questions.

"It's okay, I wasn't that scared," I lied. "How did you know I was inside the house anyway?" I wanted to take advantage of the guilty feelings that were apparent on his face. At the question his eyes quickly glanced to Esme's, it went so fast that I didn't catch the look she returned to him.

"Oh, uhm," he started. "I saw your stuff at the door," I knew he was lying, first of all I had entered the house through the back door and second of all, all my stuff was upstairs where I had been trying to study.

"None of my stuff is anywhere near the door," I informed him, letting him know that I had just caught him in a lie. "All my stuff was upstairs with me, I don't leave my stuff just lying around everywhere," I told him briskly. "So now really tell me, how did you know I was in the house, let alone where exactly? The upstairs walk-in closet is not a normal place to start looking for trespassers you know."

"You are very observant and smart," Emmett said, not answering my question. I raised my eyebrows at him questionably, he choose to ignore me for a minute to talk to Esme. "How have you been Esme? I'm sorry we didn't tell you we were coming, we were hoping to surprise you."

"I guess you got quite the surprise yourself," Esme said, quickly glancing towards me before she returned to look at Emmett.

"Hello! I'm still here you know!" I shouted at Emmett, if there was one thing I didn't like it was being ignored when I asked a question. "I'm not going anywhere until you answer my question you know." I noticed Emmett swallowing heavily, desperately hoping for Esme to save him from little me.

Esme only smiled at him, clearly wondering how he was going to get himself out of telling me the truth.

Emmett settled on a partial truth. "I smelled you all down the stairs, honestly child when was the last time you bathed," he snapped at me, apparently forgetting that he was talking to a twelve year old little girl. I let out a little yelp and ran towards Esme's arms.

"Emmett!" Esme scolded him. "Go to your room, right now!" Emmett's face was covered with sorrow, he hadn't meant to hurt me but he had not known how to get rid of a curious little girl that was too smart for her own good. He quickly walked out of the kitchen and out of sight.

"Calm down Bella, it's alright. That wasn't very nice of Emmett and it was certainly not true, you do not smell bad," Esme soothed me with her musical voice, which quickly calmed me down.

"What did Emmett mean by we? He said that they were coming, who are they?" I asked, my curiosity returning.

"I assume he meant his wife Rosalie," as soon as Esme said it a smile crossed her face. "We haven't seen them in a long time."

"Esme?" I asked tentatively.

"Yes, Bella?"

"How did Emmett know I was in the closet?" I asked the question quietly, hoping that Esme would be truthful with me.

"You're not going to let that go, are you?" Esme asked in return. I shook my head. Esme sighed deeply. "I'll tell you tomorrow, okay. It's time for you to go home, Charlie will be wondering where you are soon."

I thought about it for a minute and then decided I could trust Esme to tell me the next day. "Okay, see you tomorrow," I said before I hopped off of Esme's lap and bounded up the stairs to get my books and jacket from Edwards closet.

The next day I raced back to the big house, I rode my little bicycle as fast as I could but it still wasn't fast enough for me. During the past night I had had several dreams and a nightmare. The nightmare had been with me since I was four, coming and going with time. It was a simple nightmare, two blood red eyes followed me everywhere I went, no matter how fast I ran they would always be right behind me until the moment I woke up, sweating and breathing fast. But this night it had been a bit different, instead of waking up to end the nightmare; all of a sudden Emmett and Edward appeared in my dream. They stood between me and the eyes, their backs toward me, growling at the eyes, defending me from the eyes. I woke up calmly and well rested.

As soon as I reached the house, I dropped my bike on the ground not feeling the need to set it up right; I quickly bounded through the kitchen door. I heard voices coming from the living room and decided to silently see who it was. I silently pushed the door ajar and saw five people sitting in the living room. Esme and Carlisle were there, so was Emmett and next to him was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She must be Rosalie I decided, I stared at her for a moment, her long blond hair was amazing, and everything about her mesmerized me. I bet with myself that she got that reaction where ever she went and promised myself to never show her how she made me feel. Then I realized that Edward was there, too, when had he gotten there? He never showed up unannounced. When I was sure I could walk into the room with confidence and the ability to not stare at Rosalie's beauty, I grabbed a piece of fruit from the kitchen counter (the cookies had been traded in for healthier foods when I was ten) and walked into the living room. I took a seat between Esme and Carlisle even though there was no room there.

"Hi Edward, what brings you to town?" I asked in my most innocent of voices.

"I just felt like dropping by, how are you Bella?" he said eyeing me questionably.

"I'm fine, thank you, just very curious as always."

"Yes," he said. "That does seem to be a constant with you. What are you curious about at the moment?"

"Oh, a lot of things. But mostly I'm very curious about Emmett's explanation of what happened yesterday," I said looking at Emmett, raising my eyebrows at him again. "Did you know that he tried to lie to me yesterday; and then when I didn't believe him he became very rude." At that I heard a low growl escaping Emmett's throat.

"Yes," Edward said. "I had heard something like that." He softly chuckled at Emmett's reaction.

"Bella, sweetheart," Esme started. "It's not very nice of you to make Emmett embarrassed."

"I know, I'm sorry Esme," I said not really honest about the sorry part. "But you said you would tell me what happened, right? So I can't wait to hear it."

"Don't you want to know who this is first?" Esme said indicating Rosalie.

"I already know who she is. You told me yesterday, that is Rosalie, Emmett's wife. Though I don't understand why someone as beautiful as she, married someone like Emmett," I said looking from Rosalie to Emmett and back to Rosalie again. At this point Rosalie started laughing and soon Edward joined in, while Emmett seemed to be getting more annoyed with me by the second.

"Edward, Rosalie, Bella be nice," Carlisle said in his strict voice, though he too had a smile across his face. "We're not here to make fun of Emmett."

"I'm sorry Carlisle," I said, turning back to Esme so she could start explaining.

"Uh oh," she stumbled over her words. "I might not be the right person to explain this to you Bella; after all it wasn't me who found you in the closet." She quickly eyed Emmett, who looked as much at a loss for words as he had the day before.

"All right, I'll try to explain this to you Bella," Carlisle finally said after it had been quiet for over a minute. "You must understand that we will never hurt you, no matter what the popular stories say." I didn't understand where Carlisle was going with this, of course they would never hurt me, and they were as close to me as Charlie, basically my stand-in-parents. I nodded so Carlisle knew that I understood. "We are not like other people, Bella. Actually, we are nothing like other people," I still didn't understand where Carlisle was going with this, but I let him continue nonetheless. "That is because we are not human," now this was something I wanted to react to but I didn't know how to. How could they not be human?

"Then what are you?" I asked still clueless.

"We are vampires," Carlisle whispered. "Remember what I said, we will never hurt you," he added quickly as he realized that some of the better known folk's tales about vampires came to my mind.

"Right," I said, not believing what Carlisle had told me. "And I'm a mummy."

"Bella," Carlisle said seriously. "You said you wanted to know how Emmett knew that you were here yesterday and that you were in the closet. We are vampires, and all though we do not drink human blood, we can smell them."

I didn't want to believe Carlisle; vampires were monsters, blood sucking, human killing, night crawling monsters. Suddenly I remembered the strange man from a few years ago. He had never seen me and there was no food in front of him, yet he had thanked Esme and Carlisle for bringing him a snack. It was now that I realized that he had meant me. I must have turned even paler than usual because soon Esme asked me if I was alright.

I nodded my head in response and finally took a bite from the apple that had been in my hand since I entered the room. While I chewed on the apple, I realized I wasn't afraid of the Cullens. They had never hurt me, the opposite even, they had always taken care of me when others hadn't or couldn't. Then, too, the dream from the previous night came back to me.

"Who do the blood red eyes belong to?" I asked looking at Edward. He looked confused at the question.

"Which eyes do you mean Bella?" he asked me.

"The ones from my dream, at least that's where I keep seeing them. But I know that I saw them here once, when I was much younger."

"Aro," Carlisle explained to the others, he clearly remembered that incident much better than I did. Then he explained it further for me. "That was a vampire, too, though he does not live according to our ways. He does feed on humans."

I knew I should have been extremely scared at that moment, but I felt perfectly save. I took another bite out of the apple and thought about my dream again. Emmett and Edward had protected me from the blood red eyed vampire.

"You saved me from him," I said as I looked at Edward.

"What do you mean Bella?" Edward asked.

"In my dream, last night, you and Emmett protected me against the blood red eyes. You were never there before, but for some reason last night's nightmare was different from the nightmare I have had for years. Instead of running from the eyes until I woke up, you two showed up and stopped the eyes from following me."

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Please review and let me know what you think :D


	2. Chapter 2 Visitation

Hey all, I'm very happy with the few reviews and story alerts and such. I hope it will become more soon though. So please, R&R!!

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Chapter Two - Visitation

I kept visiting the house daily; Esme wanted me to do so to keep up appearances for Charlie, while I kept coming back because I loved hanging out with them all. After I had learned the truth about the Cullens, the 'children' all stopped by more frequently, making sure that none of the small town Forks people would see them yet, but still loving the extra time they could spend together as a family. Within weeks from my learning experience I met Alice and Jasper. Alice loved me instantly, though it took me a while to figure out it was because she saw me as a little doll she could play dress up with. Jasper mostly kept his distance from me, when I asked Esme about it she told me that he had more problems with abstaining from human blood than the others. That shocked me a bit, but I never showed it to Jasper, instead I respected his space and made sure not to get to close to him.

There would still be a bowl of fruit waiting for me every time I came in through the kitchen door, though Emmett kept asking me how I could eat something that smelled so rotten. I usually retorted with something like "how can you live on blood, now that is disgusting" or I would challenge him to eat it, he always fell for it, being the bet-loving and macho man that he is. I felt utterly comfortable around all of them, though Edward and Jasper never understood why.

"Honestly Bella, how can a stupid little dream like that make you unafraid of vampires?" Edward asked unconvinced. He had asked me the question several times before and I had kept giving him the same answer.

"It just did, I don't know what else to tell you." But by now I had realised the truth so I finally gave him another answer. "You know what Edward," I started, disbelief crossed his face as he realised I was finally going to give a different answer. "I think it didn't make me unafraid of vampires in general, just you guys. You saved me from the other vampire and trust me, he still freaks me out. But you guys, there's no way I can be afraid of you." Edward sighed deeply, he wasn't happy with me for coming around so often.

"You're an idiot," he said, with a crooked smile on his face.

I wish all my visits to the Cullens were so uneventful, just arguing with them, me with my now fourteen years of life experience versus their sometimes over a hundred years of experience. Of course, they weren't all like that.

About seven months through my first year of high school, there was one of those eventful days. As I placed my bike against the wall underneath the kitchen window Edward came rushing out the door, picked me up and started running across the grounds. He ran so fast, I quickly closed my eyes so I wouldn't get nauseous.

"Edward! Stop!" I shouted.

"Can't," he whispered back to me.

"Edward! I mean it stop right now," I no longer shouted, instead I tried to wriggle free from his hold on me. Naturally I didn't stand a chance at succeeding and neither did he stop running, though he did actually seem to slow down. I opened my eyes just enough to see that we were indeed slowing down and saw that it was save for me to completely open my eyes.

"Where are we?" I asked, looking around and seeing nothing but trees, everywhere trees and more trees. "Edward take me back, I don't like it here."

"Trust me Bella, it's save here," he said as he lightly sat me back on my feet. I didn't understand what he meant, how could it be save here in the middle of nowhere?

"Edward it's save at the house, saver than it is here," I said looking in his eyes, trying to convince him of this fact.

"No it's not," he simply said ignoring my arguments. "It's not safe at the house right now."

"What are you talking about?" I asked still not understanding what he was going on about. "Edward I told you, I'm aware of the dangers of hanging out with vampires, but I also know there are different types of vampires. There is no reason for you to try to creep me out." Suddenly I felt angry, Edward had no right to drag me out to the middle of nowhere without an explanation. I pushed Edward away from me, not that it had any impact what-so-ever but it made me feel better, and started walking back in the direction we came from.

He quickly grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, his eyes almost pleading with me to understand and to trust him.

"I'm going home, there is no reason for me to be here, where ever here is," I rambled as I tried to pull my arm free from his grip. "I got homework I have to finish and I have a test tomorrow that I still have to study for."

"Don't worry about that, Bella. Your homework will be done in the morning and you can retake the test or do some extra credit work or something," Edward offered, keeping my wrist securely in his hand.

"Edward let me go!"

"Bella, you told me I would save you and protect you, so stop arguing with me and stay here where it is save," he said still not letting go of my arm, and for that matter pulling me in the opposite direction.

"What are you talking about? Protect me from what?"

"Aro," he spoke so softly and yet I had no problem understanding him. A look of shock must have crossed my face as he pulled me to him, holding me save within his strong arms. The name brought back so many images from my nightmares, so many repressed feelings.

"What is he doing here?" I whispered into his chest.

"To see what Carlisle is up to, I suppose," Edward said soothingly.

"Does he know? That I know, I mean?" I asked, knowing that I wasn't supposed to know their secret.

"If he doesn't yet, he will soon," Edward answered truthfully. "And he won't like it."

"How do you mean, he will soon? Can't the others just not tell him?" I asked hopefully.

"No, they can't. Aro has an ability like me and Alice and Jasper. When he touches someone, he can read their thoughts, but not only their current thoughts. He can read all their thoughts, old and new," Edward explained Aro's power calmly, though I knew he didn't want to tell me, to have me know so much about their world. "Within seconds he can see your entire life and every thought you have ever had throughout it."

"Oh," was all I could say. Then curiosity hit me, "what will he do?"

"I don't know, I can't see the future," there was a hint of jokiness in his voice, though it was so slight that I almost missed it.

"How long will he stay? I mean, how long will we have to stay here?" It would be growing darker soon and being in the woods, with strange animal sounds didn't help to make me feel any better or saver.

"I don't know that either," he said, slowly letting me out of his embrace. "Don't worry someone will come to find us when he does."

"What do you mean you don't know? What if he stays over night or longer?" I asked not understanding how he could tell me not to worry. "If you hadn't realised, I'm still human and I need to eat regularly and I get cold during the night! And… and… and I can't stay here that long, Charlie will get worried. Edward I want to go home." I ended my rambling with a pouting face, wishing I could go home right now, though I knew that he wouldn't let me.

"If it takes too long, Esmee will call Charlie and tell him you're spending the night," Edward said, completely ignoring my other arguments.

"Right and what about the freezing-my-ass-off part?" I asked him again. "It's not like you offer any body heat and I guess you won't start a fire, because he could find us too easily with that…" I trailed off.

"Bella, relax," Edward said calmly. "It's not even twilight yet and it's almost spring so it won't be that cold out at night."

"Not cold, too whose standards, Edward?" I pressed on. "Yours don't count."

"Just go do your homework, there is nothing to worry about," it was clear he was trying to sooth me, but I knew him long enough to see through the lies he spun so easily.

"As if I can do homework now," I said. "I'm far too annoyed with you to be able to concentrate."

He shook his head and let out a soft chuckle. "You're so silly, Bella."

I sat down on the grass, it was wet but I stayed where I was. It wasn't like he was going to find me a dry patch of grass. Comfort wasn't very high on Edward's priority list.

Edward was leaning against a tree, keeping his eyes on me, but listening intently for sounds not belonging to the forest. We hadn't spoken in over half an hour, when a smile grew on his face.

"What are you smiling for?" I asked, rather annoyed by now, my bum had gotten painful and very cold.

"You'll see soon," he said, still not letting me out of his sight. As if I didn't know that running from him had no use what-so-ever, he would catch me before I could take a step. So, I rolled my eyes at him, which earned another soft chuckle from him.

However, not too long after I also heard sounds that didn't belong to the forest. I looked at Edward and he nodded at me, apparently it was someone safe.

"Hi Bella," Alice's sing song voice came from the trees. I jumped up, a little too fast. My legs were wobbly and I got a head rush, which of course resulted in me falling back to the ground. Alice laughed loudly as she saw me falling over, if she hadn't been there to release me from the forest I would have been mad at her for laughing, but as it was I really didn't care.

"Ugh, I'm all stiff," I said, standing up a bit more slowly this time. Alice was at my side in less than a second, helping me stand up. "Can I please go home now?" I asked her, my eyes begging her at the same time. She smiled but she didn't nod.

"It's too late for you to go home to Charlie, Esme already called him and we're having a slumber party," Alice explained. I wasn't sure I was happy with that. Spending time with Alice meant that she was going to give me a makeover, and I was pretty sure that Rosalie was there as well. Which meant that I would not be able to escape either? I gave her a weak smile; she knew I didn't particularly like her makeovers, but that I also could never refuse her. At that same time my stomach decided it was time to be heard. Both Alice and Edward laughed loudly.

"What do you want to eat Bella?" Edward asked, before he slung me on his back. I closed my eyes while I thought about his question. I knew I would be the only one eating anything the entire night and didn't want to inconvenience them, but I was really hungry.

When I opened my eyes, we were already back at the house. Edward didn't let me down though, he carried me all the way in the house and up the stairs.

"Edward?" Esme called after us, she had beaten me to it. "Where are you taking Bella?"

"She's cold, she should take a shower to warm up," he said as we entered Alice's room and he walked straight for her bathroom. He finally let me down in front of the shower.

"Take a shower, warm up," he said before he retreated from the room. But before he completely closed it, he remembered the question he had asked before we left the forest. "Dinner?" he asked.

"Pizza," I said as I pulled the door closed and locked it.


	3. Chapter 3 Implications

So this is the last of the chapters i had written before i started uploading... I'm now working on the fourth chapter but if i don't get more reviews i'll probably not upload it. So please people REVIEW!!

Oh and i forgot at the last couple of chapters but I DON'T OWN ANYTHING, CHARACTERS AND SUCH BELONG TO STEPHENIE MEYER!!

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Chapter 3 – Implications

"Is any of you going to tell me what Aro said or are you all just going to ignore the fact that he was even here?" I asked the next morning, as I was eating breakfast and all the Cullen siblings were pretending not to stare at me. The entire previous evening I hadn't even mentioned Aro, bottling up my curiosity, thinking that they would eventually tell me from their own accord. However, they hadn't and I was getting insanely curious. I looked at them all, one by one, and they all avoided my stare. All, except for Edward. He didn't look away, but I could see that he wasn't actually looking at me either. It was more like he was staring straight through me.

"Edward?" I asked. "What is it?"

He shook his head to clear it from his thoughts or the thoughts of others. "It's nothing, they are all just shouting at me for telling you that Aro was here and I was trying to block them out," Edward said, sounding rather annoyed himself.

"Stop shouting at your brother," Esme said as she entered the kitchen. She gave me a sweet smile, which I returned with a questioning look, she knew exactly what I wanted to know.

"Not right now, Bella," she said sounding as sweet as ever. "It's time to go to school."

"Then when?" I asked, not ready to let go of it yet. "Tonight?"

"Probably not, but soon, I promise," Esme said as she stood by the door with my backpack.

"That's not precise enough," I countered. "Last time Alice and Jasper said they would be back soon, it took them over six months to come back. I can't wait six months, it will drive me nuts."

That made them all laugh, they had all seen what curiosity did to me. Cranky was an understatement in my case.

"Carlisle has the night shift tonight, but I promise we will talk about this sometime this week," Esme said. It was clear that that was as much of a promise I was going to get, so I took the backpack from Esme and opened the door. Than it hit me, with Alice and Rosalie giving me a makeover and completely saying everything I said, I had had no time to do my homework.

"Crap!" I said, realising that my math teacher was going to get really mad at me for not doing it again.

"What is it, Bella?" Esme asked concerned.

"With everything that happened yesterday, I forgot to do my homework. That stupid math teacher is so going to put me in detention."

"Who said that your homework wasn't done?" Edward said, smiling at me. I looked at him scrupulously.

"You didn't, did you? Why?" I asked surprised.

"I told you it would be done in the morning," Edward said, reminding me of what he had said in the forest. "I don't make promises that I don't keep."

"Good to know," I said relieved. "Thanks." I smiled and walked out the door, grabbed my bike and went to school.

For some strange reason, Carlisle seemed to have the night shift for over a week after Aro came by. The others kept telling me that they would tell me what Aro had said if Carlisle hadn't specifically told them that he wanted to tell me. They did tell me that it really wasn't something to worry about, but with time my doubt grew.

Two weeks after Aro's visit Carlisle finally invited me into his study. I thought about having this conversation while standing, but figured that if it was bad news than I would want to be sitting. So, instead I flopped down, loudly, on one of the big chairs in front of Carlisle's desk; my crankiness had turned into utter annoyance over the past two weeks and so I looked Carlisle straight in the eye and looked at him expectantly.

"Bella," Carlisle said in a stern voice.

I didn't respond, I was stubborn and so I kept looking at him.

"Bella," Carlisle said again, this time with more kindness in his voice. His face was kind too, but I was still annoyed.

"Just tell me what it is already!" I burst out. "It can't be that bad."

Carlisle laughed at my reaction. "Relax, Bella," he said. "There is nothing to worry about. I just had to check with Charlie before I told you what Aro asked us to do. Of course I couldn't tell Charlie everything, but there was something I needed to ask his permission for and with my night shifts and his day shifts, it just took me some time to ask him properly."

He stopped there, leaving me hanging in suspense. What would he have to ask Charlie; Charlie was always fine with whatever I did at the Cullen's house. As long as I was save and taken care off, he didn't worry much.

"Carlisle?" I asked. "Will you tell me already; I'm already all out of patience."

He laughed again, it was a gentle sound. "Didn't I tell you to relax Bella," he said. "Aro invited all of us to visit him over the summer in Volterra, I thought it might be nice for you to see a bit more of Italy than just the one little city, but of course before I could even tell you I had to ask Charlie if it was okay for you to spend the summer with us overseas."

"Right, so summer in Italy," I smiled broadly, this was the dream of most teenagers in America, though something felt off. "Wait," I said realising what Carlisle had said. "When you say that Aro invited all of us, do you mean all you guys or me as well?"

"He invited you too, that's why I had to ask Charlie if you could come," Carlisle answered.

"Why? Why does Aro want to meet me?" I asked fear had struck a chord in my heart, as if it was innate.

"He wants to meet you because Edward can't read your thoughts. I guess you could say that you are very intriguing for Aro," Carlisle spoke clearly but it took some time for my mind to grasps what he was saying.

"Why does he care that Edward can't read my thoughts? I know that Aro has the same type of gift as Edward, but why does he care about a simple mortal human?" I asked after thinking about Carlisle's words.

"Like I said it's nothing to worry about, Aro has always been intrigued by everything out of the ordinary," Carlisle answered me calmly.

"Right," I said, though I still wasn't completely satisfied with Carlisle's explanation for the long delay in telling me. "So Aro didn't say anything about me knowing what you guys are? Didn't he care that you broke their most important law?"

"For now, he didn't mention it. And because Edward wasn't here, we don't know what Aro thought about it," these words from Carlisle made me feel ashamed. It was because of me that Edward hadn't been there and that they were now in the dark.

"Has Alice seen anything? On what Aro thinks or what he will do, now that he knows?" I asked, hoping that Alice's gift would help them.

"So far it seems Aro has not decided what to do about it yet and so Alice hasn't seen him doing anything."

"Right, so we're going to Italy, to Aro's home, where he can basically do whatever he wants with us? That does not sound completely save to me," I said.

"Sometimes I think you are too smart for a fourteen year old," Carlisle responded. "You don't have to worry about this Bella, Aro and I have known each other for a long time and he will not harm us or you for no good reason."

"So, if he had a good reason…" I asked.

"Bella," Carlisle answered with his strict voice.

"Oh fine," I said.

"Aren't you looking forward to spending the summer in Italy at all?" Carlisle asked, reminding me of the rest of the summer trip. I smiled, realising how jealous everyone at school would be. Especially Lauren, I couldn't wait to wave it in her face. Carlisle must have seen the change in my thoughts because he said "why don't you go see Alice, I think she wants to plan the entire thing with you."

I nodded and quickly left the room to find Alice. I spend the rest of the afternoon in her room, where she showed me older holiday pictures from the Cullens in Italy.

The next day at school I must have been smiling more than I had been doing the previous weeks because everyone wanted to know what was going on.

"I'll tell all of you during lunch," I said to Jessica as she asked me about my smiles for the fifth time.

"Why not now?"

"Because I want to see the reaction on Laurens' face when she hears," I laughed.

"Hmmm," Jessica let out as she let her mind wonder over all the things that might annoy Lauren.

When lunch finally came, Jessica was looking at me with big eyes. I returned with a what-do-you-want look, before I smiled at her again. When all are friends had finally taken a seat at the lunch table Jessica was about to explode.

"Bella, will you please now inform us all of why you have been smiling all day, even though you've been an absolute crank for the last two weeks!"

"Oh, all right," I sighed. "Well, yesterday the Cullens asked me if I wanted to spend the summer with them in Italy and of course I said yes."

"That's it?" Lauren asked, sounding bored. "You're going to Italy with the weird young doctor and his wife and that has you all happy crappy. How lame, here I thought you would actually have something good to share with us."

"Well Lauren, I'm pretty sure you won't be spending the summer in Italy or even outside of the state," I mocked her.

"Don't listen to Lauren, she just wishes she could go," Jessica said, she knew Lauren and I didn't get along. "Oh and to be clear, I too wish I could go. I'm so jealous of you!"

"It's going to be great!" I smiled. "Last night they showed me pictures from some of their other trips to Italy and it is so beautiful. I can't wait for it to be summer."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Lauren said before she loudly scraped her chair over the floor and left the table.

When the school day finally ended I was glad to leave, Lauren had given me her deathstare ever since lunch and frankly she was getting on my nerves. When I got to my bike, there was a note attached to it.

_Enjoy Italy!_

I had no idea who had left the note until I saw that both my tires had been slid.

"Damn," I swore softly to myself. It was cold enough outside and walking home would take forever. I quickly looked around before I pulled out my cellphone and dialled the Cullens homenumber.

"Speak," Jasper's voice came through the speaker.

"Hey Jasper, it's Bella," I answered. Jasper and I still weren't very close but his knowledge of books was starting to rub off on me. "Do you think one of you guys can come and pick me up?"

"Bella, it's not that cold outside, and we don't want the other people in town to see us yet," he reminded me.

"I know, but someone slashed my tires."

"Hey Bella," Edward's voice suddenly came through the phone.

"Hey Edward, where did Jasper go?"

"I'm still here actually."

"Oh, okay. So can anyone of you guys come and pick me up or should I just start walking?"

"I'll pick you up Bella, I'll just stay in the car," Edward said.

"Okay, thanks."

"Bye Bella," Jasper said.

"Oh bye Jasper, see you in a bit."

Three minutes later Edward's silver Volvo drove onto the school parking lot.

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	4. Chapter 4 Payback's a bear

I'm sooo happy with the reviews i've gotten so far and all the story alerts and faves :) :) :)  
I can't believe I wrote this whole chapter today, specially since I wrote the other 3 chapters almost 6 months ago! I hope you enjoy this chapter and I know that Bella is a bit OOC but she has known everyone longer and is more sure of herself.  
Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer!!

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Chapter 4 – Payback's a bear

"Bella?" Emmet called to me. He had just come back from a hunting trip, the bears were just waking up and for some reason when Emmet came back from hunting he was always more energized or maybe hyper was a better word for it.

In seconds he had come through Edward's door. I still did all my studying in there; it was the least cluttered room in the house and Edward's music collection always kept me focused.

"What is it Emmet?"

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"Emmet, I'm always here," I pointed out.

He shook his head, as if to clear it. "Not what I mean," he said. "How did you get here? Your bike wasn't in the backyard."

"Oh, Edward picked me up," I said before going back to my homework. Emmet kept standing in the doorway. When I looked up he had a puzzled look on his face.

"What is it Emmet?"

"Why would Edward pick you up? You always ride your bike…" he trailed off.

"Someone slashed my tires," I explained quietly.

"Why would someone do that?" Emmet asked.

"That's what we all asked her when Edward got her here," Alice said as she pushed passed Emmet into the room. "I say we get back at that little girl."

"Alice, I told you, I don't want you guys to get into trouble. I'll deal with Lauren myself."

"And what are you going to do about it then?" Alice asked, knowing that I hadn't actually thought of anything yet.

"My brain doesn't work as fast as yours does, I need time to create a plan," I said.

"We don't," Emmet smiled. "What do you think Alice?"

"Hey, don't go making decisions and looking at them without telling me about it," I scolded.

"Oh but Bella this is fun, Emmet is really good at getting back at people," Alice pleaded.

"No, I want to do this myself. Lauren is just jealous and she's not worth it to get mad about."

"But Bella if Lauren is jealous someone should show her that it's not a good virtue and that there are consequences to acting out of jealousy," Alice tried to reason with me.

"Payback isn't a good thing either Alice," I said stubbornly. "Now I don't want to talk about this anymore, get out so I can finish this math homework."

Both their faces became filled with disappointment as I squashed their payback plans; though I could have sworn that I saw a glint of glee in Alice's eyes.

"I'm warning you Alice, I'll be really mad if you do anything to Lauren," I said before she closed the door behind her.

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_Emmet POV_

"Alice," I whispered.

"Why are you whispering Emmet?"

"I don't want Bella to hear us," I whispered again.

"She can't hear us down here, remember she's human, not vampire."

"Then why does she always know that I'm home before I say anything?"

"Because you're loud," Alice stated.

"Oh," I said, slightly distracted. "Wait, we're still doing this thing right? We can't let that girl get away with slicing Bella's tires and we both know Bella won't do anything about it, she's far too nice."

"Yes Emmet, we are so doing this tonight, that girl is going to pay."

"Good," I smiled broadly.

We waited for Bella to leave for home and then for night to come and make all the little humans in town go to sleep.

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_Bella POV_

I knew something was going on today, the entire school seemed to be buzzing and the name that was on everybody's lips was Lauren.

"Hey Angela," I greeted as I took my seat next to her in our English class. "Any idea what's up with Lauren today? Everyone seems to be talking about her."

"I know, as if she has ever had anything interesting to tell us. It's probably her announcement earlier today that has everyone a buzz," Angela answered, she too was bored with Lauren's stories, which were almost always lies, but she was just too nice ever say anything about it. "This morning she said she would tell everybody what was going on during lunch, and since you had such great news to share with everyone during lunch yesterday, everyone thinks she has something similar to report."

"Right, wish she would make up her own ways of doing things instead of copying others," I said softly as the teacher was about to start her lesson. Angela nodded in agreement.

When lunch finally came almost the entire junior year was hanging on Lauren's lips, just the way she liked it. The moment I sat down at our table Lauren started her story.

"I was so scared," she said. "That bear must have been right outside my window and I could hear it feasting on something. It was roaring so loud I could hardly sleep all night. I'm so exhausted."

I didn't trust a word Lauren said, usually, but with Emmet wanting to take revenge on her, I doubted it was an actual bear outside her window.

"Wow Lauren, that must have been really scary," Eric said.

"It really was, and the worst thing came this morning," Lauren continued. "I walked out of the house to get my bike from the shed but there was a half eaten carcass on the lawn. It was disgusting."

Lauren's words made me spit out the bite of pizza I had just taken. "Really Lauren, come on we all know you like to make stuff up, but this is going a bit far don't you think. Bears don't come so close to a house and neither do their prey. What kind of animal was the prey anyway?" I asked sarcastically.

"It was a deer," she answered. "And I'm not making this up either Bella; unlike your trip to Italy this actually is true."

"Right, well believe whatever you want to believe, but I am going to Italy this summer." I could believe that Emmet had pretended to be a bear outside of Lauren's window but he would never leave a dead dear on the lawn, let alone a half eaten one.

"Oh come on Bella, look at Lauren, look at the bags under her eyes, something kept her up all night," Mike said as he swung his arm around Lauren's back.

"Fine, I can believe that there was a bear outside her house, but I won't believe that it left a half eaten deer on her lawn. That's just ridiculous."

Angela laughed softly behind her hand as she realised how annoyed I was with everyone condoning Lauren's lies. Frustrated I left the table.

That day I again needed a ride, since my bike was still in need of new tires. I called the Cullen house but this time no one answered. I prepared myself for the long walk to the house when I heard a car honking. I looked up and saw that Edward had come to pick me up again. Still annoyed with Lauren, I walked up to the passenger side, stepped inside the car and slammed the door shut. I stared out the front window without saying a word.

"Not talking to me anymore?" Edward asked.

"Just take me away from this place, please."

"Sure," he said. But he didn't, not immediately anyway.

I looked at him, ready to vent my frustrations on him. "Don't you dare read the thoughts of the other students to figure out what my problem is. If you want to know, you can just ask me."

"I was hoping to avoid you blowing up in my face, at least if your anger isn't caused by me," he said cautiously.

"It's not. It's focused on Emmet, Alice, Lauren and Mike and everyone who believes Lauren," I said stiffly while he drove away from the school.

"What did they do?"

"Doesn't matter. I told them not to do anything and they did. I told them I would be mad if they did, and now I'm mad."

"Okay," Edward answered. He clearly realised that my temper tantrum wasn't directed at him, but he wasn't going to get in my way either.

When he parked the car in the garage I noticed that two important items were missing, Emmet's Jeep and Alice's Porsche. "Where are they?"

"I think Alice took everyone shopping," Edward answered.

"I'm sure she did," I said softly. My frustration was causing adrenaline to flow through my veins and that helped me to quickly decide how to get everyone home again. "Let's see if Alice can break her speed record for her wardrobe," I whispered. I walked into the house and up to Alice's room when I heard the phone ring. I knew who it was and I knew what she wanted. Edward could pick it up if he wanted, but he couldn't stop me from doing what I was going to do. I threw my arms around a part of Alice's wardrobe and pulled it from the rack. With my arms full I slowly made my way downstairs, making very sure not to trip over anything. I threw the clothes on the ground in the backyard and headed back inside.

"Alice would like me to stop you," Edward said from the living room.

"Will you?"

"Should I?"

"No, you shouldn't. She and Emmet thought payback was funny, so I'll pay her back for letting Emmet do what he did."

"So you are getting back at Alice for something Emmet did? That sounds really logical," Edward wondered out loud.

"She's easier to get back at, if you have an idea how I could get back at Emmet I might just wait with Alice's punishment." With that I walked back up the stairs and got another arms full of Alice's clothes.

When I came down, Edward was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, actually ready to catch me if I fell. "You have a point, you know," he said. "If you want to get back at Alice you have to do it when you decide on what you want to do, with Emmet you can take your time to plan it out."

"So you'll help me?" I asked surprised.

"No, Esme would me furious with me if I helped you, but I don't have to stop you."

"That works for me."

I walked outside and emptied my arms. I walked back in the house and started looking for matches. It took me a minute to find them, while Edward was being really unhelpful by standing right in front of them. When I walked back outside I heard a car speeding up to the house. Within seconds Alice was standing protectively in front of her clothes.

"Bella, I won't let you do this," she said.

"Alice, I told you I would be mad if you did anything to Lauren," I reminded her.

"But I didn't do anything," she defended herself.

"Yes, you are about as responsible for it as Edward is for all your clothes lying here on the ground."

"I didn't do anything," Edward said surprised that I had dragged him into the argument.

"Exactly my point," I noted. Alice frowned hard as she realised that I really was angry with her.

"Bella, come on, I'm really sorry."

"But Alice, I thought you were all for an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

"I'm sorry Bella, we shouldn't have done anything, especially after you said you would deal with it yourself. But we just felt the need to stick up for you. We can't let some silly jealous girl hurt you."

"You can and you will, as long as it's normal girls we're dealing with, I can take care of it."

"Yes Bella," Alice sighed relieved as she saw that I was no longer planning on burning her clothes. She quickly turned around and gathered her clothes.

"Oh Alice, I do expect your help in getting back at Emmet," I said before I turned around to leave her alone with her clothes.

But Alice already had an idea before I could even make it back into the house, "You should talk to Rosalie about that. She's very much for women who stick up for themselves, you know."

When the others came home and I told Rose what Emmet had done she took immediate action, as did Esme. Rose hid Emmet Jeep and refused to let him touch her in any way; and Esme banned him from playing computer games for two weeks. While Emmet was sitting on the couch, watching Jasper and Edward play a computer game, he looked at me defeated. I stuck out my tongue and walked up the stairs.

(AN: I'm not sure if my brain came up with this punishment on its own or if I read it in another fanfic a long time ago, if anyone knows where I got it, let me know so I can give that person some credit)

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Reviews make me very happy! I have to work this weekend but I'll try to upload as soon as possible. Next chapter we're going to Italy ^^  
Please review and thanks for reading :)


	5. Chapter 5 Rome

**Soo sorry about the lateness of this update. I blaim work, school and the fact that my laptop crashed...**

**The twilight movie was finally released here yesterday, so if you want to know my thoughts on it, i'll put them on my homepage.**

**Since i've never been to Rome (though I've been to italy like 4 times) I had some help with this chapter from my best friend. She came up with some lovely problems for Bella. I hope you like them as much as I do.**

**Please review this story! Reviews make me very happy!!**

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Chapter 5 – Rome

"Bella wake up," I heard Edward's voice softly besides my ear.

"No," I sighed. I was already dreaming that I was in walking around in Rome.

"Come on Bella, we're about to land," Edward whispered again. He shook me softly, slowly waking me from my sleep. I had stayed awake during the flight from Seattle to Amsterdam, as I was filled with excitement. But as soon as I sat down in the plane that took us from Amsterdam to Rome I was deeply asleep. The plane landed smoothly on the Roman tarmac, some people applauded, though I had never understood that. Why clap for someone who can't hear you and is only doing his job, it's like applauding when a movie ends _(AU: so this might just be something that really annoys me personally)_.

We had arrived in the dead of night because Italy was too sunny for the Cullens. They rented cars, why we couldn't just take a cap to the hotel I don't even remember, let alone getting to the hotel. I must have been asleep when we arrived as my first memory of the hotel is waking up in a luxurious four-poster bed.

I rubbed my eyes as they adjusted to the light coming through the drapes. I shook the sheets off and walked over to the window. I opened the drapes a bit further and was amazed by the view of the Villa Borghese gardens.

"Bella, you're up," Alice cheered as she entered the room. "Come on, I've ordered you some breakfast and than me and Rose will get you ready for your first day in Rome."

I was still hardly awake as Alice dragged me into the other room and put me down on a chair where there was food for me to eat. The smells of the food woke me easily and after I had finished Alice pulled me into the bathroom so she could work on my hair. A half hour later she was finished with me and placed a bag in my hands.

"Here you go, this bag has everything you could need today," Alice smiled.

"Isn't anyone coming with me?" I asked.

"Silly Bella," Alice laughed.

"Bella, we can't go outside during the day here in Italy. You knew that," Rosalie explained for me.

"Yeah, I guess I just forgot," I said softly.

"Come on, you should be excited, what other 14 year old can say she wandered through the streets of Rome on her own."

"I know, but you know me. How am I supposed to make it through today without, well, getting in an accident or something?"

Both girls laughed. "Really Bella, don't worry. I've seen you come back to us later in the day totally fine. And I promise to keep looking out for you during the day," Alice said, trying to make me feel better. "Now, I've put a map, money and a cellphone in the bag as well as a little book with short Italian phrases and such. So go out there, have fun. I don't want to see you back here till dinner time."

With those last words she basically pushed me out the door of the hotelroom and into the hallway. The moment I stepped outside the hotel, I pulled the map from my bag and stared at it. The Villa Borghese gardens really were on the doorstep, so I decided to wander through them first on my way to the _Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti_, the Spanish Steps.

The beauty of the gardens amazed me, it was still early in the day and there were hardly any people around. I took plenty of pictures, though I knew I would remember this trip forever. I walked south from the gardens to the _Trinità dei Monti_ where the Spanish Steps lead to the _Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti_.

The steps were crowded with people, some enjoying the sunshine others, clearly tourists, were joking around with each other. It seemed especially crowded at the bottom of the stairs; women dressed in black were huddled together. I reached the bottom of the stairs, looking for openings I could walk through but suddenly one of the women came up to me.

"Por favor," she said as she stuck her hand out to me. With her other hand she pointed to some children near by. The children were thin, like the woman I realized. Her forearms seemed to consist of only bones and a thin layer of skin. Her face was fallen and her eyes were sad. I realized she wanted money to feed her children. Before we had left for Italy I had complaint to Carlisle that I wanted to pay for my stay in Italy but he wouldn't let me. According to him it was their fault that I had to go to Italy, so they would pay for it. Now I decided that I would not keep the money the Cullens had given me for myself, I would share it with this woman. I reached into the bag and took several bills from my wallet. I slipped the bills into her hand and tried to walk away. But she took hold of my hand and thanked me several times. When she finally let go of my hand, I tried to slip away through the crowd. But by now all the other women had realized I had given money and they too held out their hand. Some were begging others just placed their hand in front of my face. For a while I couldn't move one way or the other. I was afraid I would hurt myself if I pushed myself through the women but I soon understood that it would be the only way I could get away from these women.

"Leave me alone!" I said as I pushed against them. They quickly dissipated, probably already eyeing their next victim. I ran away from the square, careful not to fall or twist my ankle. As soon as I reached a corner, I went around it and rested against the wall of one of the old Italian buildings. I did a quick inventory, making sure I was okay and that I still had all my stuff. I sighed and took a bottle of water from the bag. As I calmed down I walked south, towards the Trevi Fountain.

At the Trevi Fountain it was even busier than at the Spanish Steps, though I had doubted it was possible. The fountain took my breath away, it was gorgeous. Slowly I made my way to the edge of the fountain. I had promised Angela to throw in a coin and make a wish. I took several pictures of the fountain, before I turned around with a coin in my hand. I lifted my hand and threw the coin into the fountain while wishing. But before I could even finish thinking about my wish I was pushed. The entire crowd at the fountain seemed to have taken a step forward. My feet got caught behind the ledge of the fountain, while my knees bended and I fell over. My hands let go of my bag before I reached the water. With a splash I landed in the fountain. My back hurt and I was sure I was covered in bruises. As I climbed out of the fountain, with the help of others near the edge, I heard the phone ringing in my bag. I sat down on the edge of the fountain and took the phone out of the bag.

"Hello," I answered.

"Hey Bella, could you stay away from the edge of the Trevi Fountain?" Alice's voice said.

"Too late Alice," I responded.

"Oh no, were you pushed in?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Oh Bella, I'm so sorry."

"I know Alice, it's okay. Did you see the women at the bottom of the Spanish Steps, too?"

"I did, but I saw that you would be fine so I didn't call about that. You are okay right?"

"Yes Alice, just some bruises from the fountain I think."

"Did you have lunch yet?" Alice asked at the exact moment my stomach started to rumble.

"Funny Alice."

"I thought it was polite to ask," she said brightly.

"I'll find some place to eat on the way to the Piazza Navona."

"Oeh, it's beautiful there."

"Alice, this entire city is beautiful."

"Too true Bella. Well I'll leave you to find a place for lunch."

"Okay, thanks for trying to warn me Alice," I said.

"Next time I'll try to tell you before it happens."

We laughed and talked for a few more minutes before she actually did leave me to find some lunch. After lunch I continued to the Piazza Navona, only I found the Pantheon on my way. Like the Trevi Fountain it made me speechless. The skill with which it had been built, that had made it last for so many years amazed me, as did its beauty.

The rest of the afternoon I spend at the Piazza Navona. It too was beautiful, though it had lost all its original Roman design, the three fountains and the surrounding buildings from the 17th century created a stunning square. At the end of the day I longed for someone to talk to. Roaming around the city on my own had been amazing but it would have been better if I had had someone to share it with. I returned to our hotel, the Aldrovandi Palace, tired and hungry.

That night I dreamed of Aro's eyes again, though this time they weren't floating through dark space. They floated through the streets of Rome that I had walked on earlier. Edward and Emmet both were there again to stop Aro's eyes from following me.

Though the dream had ended well I still woke up with a jolt. I tried to turn over and fall back asleep but it didn't work. Grudgingly I got out of bed and pulled on some shorts and a tank top. The day before it had been insanely warm in the city, and though I didn't really enjoy my dip in the fountain it had cooled me down a bit.

"Anyone here?" I asked as I stepped out of the bedroom.

"You're up early," Edward answered from the window. He had a book in his hands though he seemed to be staring out the window more than he was actually reading.

"Yeah, Aro came after me again," I explained, he seemed surprised that the dream had woken me.

"Didn't Emmet and I come by to scare him off?" Edward asked, only half joking.

"You did but I still woke up, guess it's just being here or something."

"Right," he said, looking pensive.

"Relax Edward, it's just a dream remember." He nodded, though his face didn't change. "Where are the others?" I was sharing the room with Alice and Rosalie, though of course I was the only one actually sleeping in there.

"They're in the other room, they didn't want to wake you with their games."

"Oh right, guess I'll order some breakfast then," I said and he nodded.

After breakfast I left the hotelroom behind again and made my way to the Vatican. I had heard that there were always long lines before St. Peter's Cathedral and I wasn't disappointed when I got there. At the end of the line, there was a sign that told me I had at least an hour of cueing in front of me. I was glad that I had decided to bring my music and a book. I might have had no one to talk to there, but at least I wouldn't be bored.

Almost an hour and a half had passed when I reached the front of the line. I put my book and my music away. I was about to step inside when one of the guards came up to me.

"No, non potete entrare," he said.

"I'm sorry what?"

"You cannot come in here dressed like that," he said. It was then that I saw that all the other women were wearing long dresses and even all the men were wearing long trousers. Disappointed I got out of the line and slowly walked back to the hotel.

It took me over an hour to get back to the hotelroom, silently I opened the door and walked inside.

"Bella? What are you doing here?" Alice asked from the couch.

I didn't answer, instead I walked straight through the room to the bedroom. I closed the door behind me and fell down on the bed. As I lay there, I could hear the others talking next door.

"I wonder what happened to her," Rosalie said.

"Edward, where did she go today?" Alice asked.

"She didn't say. She just had breakfast and left."

"Why didn't you ask her Edward? She's a fourteen year old girl and you let her out into a strange city without even knowing where she was going," Alice responded angrily.

"You're supposed to keep an eye on her while she's out there," Edward retorted.

It was silent for a few minutes, before Alice remembered the plans we had made together. "She was planning to go to St. Peter's today."

"Dressed like that?" Rosalie asked.

"Ow! What the hell Rose?" Edward voice came suddenly.

"Instant reaction," Rosalie defended. "The poor girl was probably refused at the door of the Cathedral, can you imagine how embarrassing?"

"I didn't know where she was going, it's not like I can read her mind."

"Still, you should have asked," Rosalie said, her voice was final and shortly after I heard a door closing loudly.

"Hey Bella, wake up," Edward's voice came from close beside me.

"Not again," I mumbled. "No need to land again, we're already in Rome."

Edward laughed, "Yes Bella, we are already in Rome, but you still have to wake up."

"Why?" I asked, my eyes still closed.

"Well because you slept half the day away and now it's night time and I'm going to take you on a private tour of the Vatican."

My eyes shot open as my brain processed his words. "What?"

"Come on, get up," Edward laughed as he walked out of the room.

"Thanks for taking me here tonight."

"I should thank you for giving me the opportunity," he laughed. "I needed a break from all of their couple thoughts."

"They aren't that bad."

"You don't have to hear their thoughts twenty-four hours a day," Edward pointed out.

"True," I laughed silently.

"Close your eyes Bella," Edward said as we reached the gates to the Vatican. I felt him lifting me off of my feet and seconds later placing me back on them. He had jumped us over the wall. "Come on Bella, it's time for your private tour," Edward laughed as he pulled me across St. Peter's Square.

Edward really did take his time showing me around the Vatican. At times we had to hide around a corner to escape being caught by one of the guards, but mostly we had the entire place to ourselves. It was breath taking and Edward knew more then even the most knowledgeable tourguide could have.

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	6. Chapter 6 Volterra

**Thank you all for all the story faves and alerts and reviews, they make me very happy :D  
I hope you like this new chapter, I know some of it is a bit similar to what happens in new moon but i wanted to stay as close to the characters original reactions to their situation.  
Let me know what you think of this chapter.**

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Chapter 6 – Volterra

After Edward had taken me on a nightly tour of the Vatican I decided that I preferred seeing all the sights with someone, at night if I had to. So from then on we all went out together. The next night we visited the Coliseum and the Palatine. Time seemed to move faster for me now that I spend most of the nights awake and the days asleep.

Over the course of the next two weeks we visited Venice and Milan. While we kept the night time adventures in Venice, Alice and Rosalie demanded that I come with them during the day in Milan to go shopping. I tried to refuse as many clothes as I could but it clearly was a lost cause. While I slept I had more dreams about Aro. The scenery changed but the dream didn't, he followed me through the canals in Venice and the through the streets of Milan.

The last day of our stay in Italy crept up on me. We were going to Volterra and after that we were going straight to the airport.

That afternoon Alice had laid an outfit for me on the bed. It was a turtleneck top with jeans and ballerinas.

"No way," I whispered to myself. Resolved I put on the jeans and the ballerinas and combined it with a top from my suitcase. I locked the suitcase and pushed it through the door.

"Let's go," I said as I quickly walked through the hotelroom and pulled the suitcase after me.

Before I reached the door Edward was standing in front of me.

"Stop," he said. "Alice, I though you were going to…"

"I did," Alice interrupted him. "Bella, what happened to the shirt I laid out for you?"

"You have to be kidding me. You didn't really expect me to wear a turtleneck while it's 30 degrees (°Celsius = 86°Fahrenheit) outside?" I asked.

"Bella," Edward sighed. "You know Aro and the others aren't like us, you could try not to invite them to your throat."

"Because wearing a turtleneck in the middle of summer doesn't attract attention to my throat at all, right?" I asked sarcastically.

Edward wanted to respond, I could see it in his eyes. He took a couple of seconds, probably to stop himself from uttering a smart comeback. "Please Bella, go back into that room and change your shirt."

"No," I said as I sat down on my suitcase in protest.

"Come on Bella."

"No Edward, you don't want me to go in there so afraid of them I won't even dress normally, do you?"

"Bella, there is nothing to be afraid of," he said."

"Then why would I change my shirt?"

"Bella, go," he said trying to order me around.

"No Edward."

"Bella."

"Edward."

"Children," Esme intervened. Both Edward and I looked at her, stunned that someone had actually stopped our argument.

"Esme, Bella should change her shirt," Edward said, trying to make Esme order me to change my clothes.

"Bella is perfectly capable of choosing her own clothes Edward," Esme smiled. "Now, come on everyone, it's time to go."

I stuck out my tongue at Edward, who in response only rolled his eyes at me.

By the time we arrived in Volterra the sun had set and could all freely walk to through the narrow streets of the town. We walked to a huge castle like building and entered into a majestic lobby. We rode up two stories in an elevator and came upon an office reception area. The girl behind the desk was clearly human, her skin too dark, her features too hard and her looks too plain. Carlisle stepped out of the elevator first, Esme by his side. Next was Rosalie, she walked with obvious disdain for where she was. She walked alone because, like Edward, Emmet was walking besides me. After the three of us came Alice and Jasper. Without explaining himself to the girl at the front desk Carlisle walked passed her and headed for a set of double doors at the end of the room. They opened up to a long hallway, at the end of which there were doors sheathed in gold. Carlisle walked with certainty; he knew where he was going and what he would find there. Carlisle opened the golden doors and stepped into a brightly lit room. The room was filled with candles and people.

No not people I realised soon, vampires, not people. The moment I noticed all the different sets of bright red eyes, my legs stopped moving.

"Come on Bella, keep walking," Edward said softly.

Slowly my legs came back into motion, but at the same time I wished I had worn the turtleneck. Instead I know released my hair from the ponytail it had been in and let it cover my neck.

When we were in the middle of the room Carlisle stopped walking. We went to stand next to him, but I noticed Emmet placing himself half behind me and Edward half in front of me. I focused my eyes on the floor and tried to remember my dream. Edward and Emmet would keep me save.

"Ah Carlisle, dear friend, you've come to visit us at last," a soft voice said. I knew that voice I had heard it before, years ago.

"Yes Aro, we could of course not deny your request," Carlisle answered calmly.

"And you've all come, even little Bella. How joyous," Aro rejoiced. My eyes shot up to his as he said my name. My dreams had not betrayed me; they were exactly as I remembered. I swallowed hard and tried to take a step back but bumped into Emmet. He put a hand on my back and gave me a small reassuring smile. I returned my eyes to the floor.

"Edward?" Aro's voice rang through the room. "Can you still not hear her thoughts?"

Edward stiffened a little besides me but his voice came out calm, "I've known Bella for years now and not once have I been able to hear her thoughts."

"How very curious," Aro sighed. "I'm so happy that you are all here, you must stay for a while."

"Sorry Aro," Carlisle said immediately. "I'm afraid we aren't staying long, today is our last day in Italy. After all, Bella has to go back to school in a few days."

"What a misfortune," Aro said, clearly unhappy. "I wonder."

Aro's thoughts seemed to jump from one thing to the next and I wondered if Edward could keep up with him, I certainly couldn't.

"Well if any of you would like to stay with us a little longer, you are of course more than welcome to do so," Aro smiled. All of us remained quiet. Aro kept smiling.

"I wonder," he said again. "May I?"

"That's her choice," Edward answered. I looked at him questioningly.

"Bella, have they told you what my ability is?" Aro asked me directly. My eyes flicked to his face involuntarily. I quickly focused them back on the save floor before I nodded my head.

"Would you allow me to try if I can hear what Edward can't?" Aro asked, advancing towards me. Within less than a second I felt two hands on my shoulders. My head snapped up to look behind me. Esme had come up behind me, her touch calmed me, reminding me of so long ago when she had guided me away from Aro. Though this time she didn't guide me away. She was just giving me the choice, the reassurance that whatever I decided would be alright. Slowly I forced my eyes to look at Aro; he was standing right in front of me now. I breathed deeply, trying to stay calm, as I brought my hand up for him to touch. This had been the reason why Aro had invited us to Italy; he had wanted to know if his ability had the same limitations as Edward's.

"Thank you," he breathed before he brought his own hand up to mine. I didn't look at Aro while his hand touched mine, I was already sure that I would dream about this encounter and didn't want to have face Aro in my dreams again. I don't know how long Aro kept contact with me. He sighed when he finally pulled his hand back again. I quickly pulled mine back to and put it behind my back. I felt like washing my hands.

"Strange," Aro remarked. "Perhaps?"

"No!" Edward growled, pushing me backwards.

"Jane, dear," Aro continued, ignoring Edward.

Suddenly Carlisle was in front of me. "Aro, no. This is not the time for experiments."

Aro pursed his lips.

"I'm afraid it's time for us to leave," Esme's soft voice came from behind me.

"Yes," Carlisle agreed. "After all, we have a plane to catch."

"Of course," Aro said. He had moved away from us and was instantly surrounded by his guard. "We do hope you return to us soon, I for one am highly curious to how little Bella will grow up."

Carlisle spun around and faced me, he looked at me reassuringly before his eyes drifted over the top of my head to Esme.

"Let's go," Esme said softly as she twisted me around by my shoulders. Slowly we all walked out of the room. Alice and Jasper at the front this time followed by Rosalie. Esme and Carlisle walked behind us all, watching over us.

The moment the golden doors closed, my legs gave out and I crumpled to the floor. Instantly I Esme was hovering over me, as Edward was by my side.

"Bella, it's alright. It's over," Esme said gently.

I couldn't respond, my body felt stiff and it wouldn't do what I wanted it to anymore. Esme pulled some of my hair behind my ear.

"We should get out of here," Edward said.

Carlisle came down to where I was sitting on the ground. "She's gone into shock," he stated as he put a hand on my cheek. He looked at me kindly and in his eyes I saw a little pride. "You did good Bella," he said kindly.

Edward lifted me of the ground and cradled me to his chest. I didn't do anything but be motionless. With quick strides we were back in the reception area, we went back down in the elevator and through the lobby to the street. When the fresh air hit my face I breathed deeply, the air inside the building suddenly seemed dead, as if it didn't contain enough oxygen. Though I now felt like I could walk again, I didn't mention it. Edward carried me through the village and towards the cars. Esme took over caring for me when we were in the car, she sat next to me and gently stroked my hair. It calmed me completely. By the time we were on the plane I was basically asleep. I complained when Edward woke me again to transfer planes in Amsterdam. I slept through the entire flight back to Seattle, and for now I wasn't dreaming. When we arrived back in Forks I was wide awake, it was midday and I half expected to come home to an empty house. Instead when Carlisle pulled up to my little house Charlie came running out of it.

"Bella," he exclaimed, opening the door of the car. He looked at me as I stepped out of the car. "You look different," he said.

"It's sunny in Italy," I said as the only difference I had noticed about myself was that my skin was a little more tanned than it was before we left.

"Well, I'm glad your back kiddo," Charlie said as he walked to the trunk of the car. Carlisle was already there, pulling my suitcase out of the car. Edward had ridden home with the others as Charlie wasn't aware yet of the Cullen's adopted children.

"It's good to be back," I said. "Though I do miss the warmth of the sun a bit." I threw my arms around myself and rubbed my arms.

Charlie laughed, "Truly Bella, you've lived here your entire life but you are still not used to the cold. Let's go inside."

I nodded, "sounds good." But before I went into the house I walked to Esme. "Thanks for showing me around Italy," I said as I hugged her.

"You're welcome dear," she said as she lightly hugged me back.

I hugged Carlisle as well, "Thank you Bella, for being brave enough to come with us," he whispered in my ear.

I didn't sleep at all that night, I had slept enough on the plane and I was pretty sure that if I did sleep now it would not be dreamless. I stayed in bed until I heard Charlie leave at eight in the morning. I took a long refreshing shower and headed downstairs for breakfast. When I was finally rinsing my dishes I heard the mail land on the mat by the front door. I picked it up and briefly flicked through them. One envelope stood out. It was made of a heavy kind of paper and the address was hand written. It was addressed to me.

I put the rest of the mail on the counter and walked to the couch. Something about the letter made me almost afraid to open it. When I finally did I regretted it immediately.

Inside there was a letter and a plane ticket.

Apparently 'soon' meant in three years time to Aro. In the letter he requested me to return to Volterra when I had turned eighteen. I knew that it was a request that I would have to honour.

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	7. Chapter 7 Join Us

**Thanks soooo much you guys for all the reviews and faves and alerts, I'm soo happy everytime i see them. Well I hope you like this chapter, there's a big time jump, but it was necessary for the story. Let me know what you think, aka review review review review review review :D**

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Chapter 7 – Join us

It had been over a year since we went to Italy and it was finally time for the Cullen children to join me in highschool. I had been afraid that Alice would know about the letter Aro had send me, I had hidden it under the floorboards in my room and so far she hadn't mentioned it to me. Though that might have had something to do with her absence, well not just hers. All the Cullen children had decided to enjoy the last year before they went back to high school. Edward had come home first; he was only gone for three months. Roaming across the planet alone probably wasn't as much fun as it was when you had someone to share it with. The others had returned right before the summer started, it fitted with their cover story.

For the outside world Esmee and Carlisle had adopted all the children of Carlisle's older brother, who had passed away earlier in the year (Carlisle had even taken time off from the hospital to 'attend the funeral'). Carlisle's brother and his wife had adopted all five children when they were younger. Before now, the children had been at boarding school but in agreement with Carlisle and Esmee, they had decided to finish their highschool years at Forks High School.

The first couple of weeks after we returned from Italy I barely slept. Every night I dreamed about Aro, for some reason it was still just his eyes that followed me instead of his whole body. But now Emmett and Edward were no longer there to protect me from him. I was sure that had something to do with me hiding the letter from them, but I just wanted to forget about the letter, I just wanted to never have to go back to Volterra. Over time the dreams became less frequent but I still had them at least once a week.

I was still quietly eating my breakfast when someone banged on the front door. No one ever came by at this time of day, I wasn't even fully awake yet. I rubbed my eyes as I opened the door.

"Hey Bella, ready for a new year in highschool?" Emmett's booming voice asked as he picked me up by my waist and carried me back to the kitchen.

"No and what are you all doing here?" I asked as I noticed that all of the Cullen children were following Emmett.

"Well, that you're not ready is obvious," Alice said, looking at me. "You can't go to school dressed like that."

"Why not?" I asked, shaking the last bit of sleep from my mind. I was wearing dark jeans and a simple long sleeved shirt.

"Come on Rose," Alice said as she took hold of my wrist and pulled me towards the stairs.

"Coming," Rosalie answered.

"Help," I said softly before I got dragged up the stairs. I could still hear the guys laughing downstairs.

"She's in for it now," Jasper laughed.

"I wonder how many mornings she'll put up with it actually," Edward answered, they all knew full well how much I disliked getting makeovers from Alice and Rosalie.

"Here Bella, go put this on," Alice said as she threw a different set of clothes towards me. I didn't even try to catch them, I would probably hurt myself instead.

"Where did these come from?" I asked, I was almost positive they hadn't been in my closet this morning.

"Remember shopping in Milan?" Alice asked.

"Yes, I remember saying no to a lot of the stuff you wanted to get me."

"I bet you didn't notice me ignoring that," Alice smiled before Rosalie dragged me towards the bathroom to start working on my hair.

"Hey Bella, how was your summer?" Angela asked before she saw the group of people behind me. For once the Forks gossip machine hadn't done its job.

"Hey Ang, it was fine, nothing special." I answered.

"Uhm Bella, who are they?" Angela asked hinting at the people behind me. Suddenly I blushed. I had completely forgotten to introduce everyone.

"This are the adopted children of Doctor Cullen and his wife," I explained quickly. I introduced them all, but Angela looked at them warily, as if she didn't quit believed my lie.

"I'll see you class Bella," Angela said before she quickly walked away from us.

"You guys are scaring my friends," I complaint when Angela was out of reach.

"And that's our fault?" Emmett asked.

"Probably it's mostly yours, actually," I said and Emmett's face fell. "Oh now that isn't fair, big teddy bears should not look sad Emmett."

He smiled wickedly. I rolled my eyes; I could never stay mad with Emmett.

"Time to blend in you guys," Edward announced. "Or at least try to…"

"Yes," I agreed. "Go to class, disperse. Small town folks of Forks aren't used to big groups of new people."

They laughed but they did leave, at least all except for Edward. He stayed by my side.

"I meant you too, you know."

"We have the same classes," he said. "Pretend to show me around or something."

"Seriously?" he nodded. "Fine, this way new guy," I said as I walked towards our English class.

It was strange, during class, for the past two years Jessica or Angela had sat besides me, now Edward did. The girls looked at me when they entered the classroom; their eyes asked the question for me, I didn't need Edward's mindreading. I raised my shoulders in response to their silent question.

At lunch there was another question. Automatically I walked to our standard table in the cafeteria, but the Cullens all went to an empty table on the other side of the room.

"So you're sitting with us again?" Jessica asked, she sounded offended that I hadn't sat next to her in class.

"It's not my fault he sat next to me, I've all my classes with him," I defended. "I guess it was natural for him, since I spend most of the summer with him and his brothers and sisters.

Jessica still looked at me angry, but Angela didn't. For some reason she always thought I could do with some more real friends.

"They are looking at us," Lauren pointed out from her end of the table. My head shot in the direction of the Cullens, of course they had been listening to the conversation at our table but did they have to stare?

As soon as they saw me turning my head, they all looked away. I looked back at my friends and saw that now they were all staring at the Cullens.

"Come on people, starring isn't nice," I said loudly.

Some of them looked away quickly, but Lauren and Jessica kept their eyes on the new kids.

"They're hot," Lauren said softly. I rolled my eyes, while Jessica nodded in agreement.

"They are all taken," I said, hoping to spare her the heartbreak of falling for one of the Cullens. I might not like her, but I didn't want her to get her heartbroken over something that could never be.

"Surely not all of them," Lauren scoffed.

"Well all but Edward," I answered.

"That's the one who's been sitting next to you right?" Jessica asked. I nodded.

"Oh, he's looking this way again," she said as she quickly diverted her own eyes. Lauren kept starring. "Oh, I think he wants me to come over," she said happily.

I looked at Edward, what was he doing? He pointed his finger and curled it towards him. But he wasn't pointing at Lauren, he was pointing at me.

"Actually Lauren, I think you need your eyes checked," I said before I stood up and walked towards him.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I reached their table.

"I didn't want to shout, I thought this was a better way to get you over here," Edward said simple.

"But why are you staring at them?"

"I wasn't."

"They think you were, and you know it," I growled softly.

He smiled, less than innocently.

"Why don't you sit with us?" Edward asked, changing the subject.

"Because they are my friends," I pointed out.

"You don't even like them," Jasper noted.

"That's not true," I'm sure my face looked hurt.

"You only like Angela," Jasper said. I knew he didn't want to hurt me, but it also wasn't a nice thing to say.

"I like Jessica too," I said softly as I looked at the floor.

"Jessica is Laurens lapdog, you don't like her," Rosalie said. I knew it was true, but having it pointed out like that wasn't, well, nice.

Jasper pulled out the chair besides him for me to take a seat in. Grudgingly I sat down and laid my head on the table and closed my eyes. Instantly I was filled with happier emotions that I knew weren't my own.

"Thanks but no thanks Jasper, I'd rather feel what I'm feeling," I said, my eyes still closed.

"But your sadness rubs of on me," he said, though I felt the happy emotions leaving my body again and my true emotion resurface.

"Then you shouldn't have made me realise that I don't like most of my friends," I answered.

"Just because you don't like them now, doesn't mean that you never did," Alice offered. "The friendships you had with them started years ago, probably in kindergarten or something like that. People change over time and so sometimes friendships end, even when you don't want them to."

"I guess so," I said opening my eyes. "But that doesn't make me feel any better."

"You're not supposed to feel better, you're just supposed to be at peace with it," Rosalie said.

"It might take me a while before I am at peace with it."

"Come on squirt, it's not like you don't have any friends left," Emmett smiled broadly.

I played stupid, "Who are you talking about Emmett?"

He looked more hurt then I had intended. "I'm sorry Emmett, I was only joking or trying to at least." He didn't respond. I rolled my eyes and got out of my seat. I walked behind him and gave him a hug. To me it felt more like hugging a rock with clothes on instead of hugging a teddy bear.

"Your friends don't like it when you're close to us," Edward remarked.

"Well, if they don't except you guys they can't really be my friends. And we just figured out that I don't even really like them," I answered, as I tried to lift the mood, well mostly my own mood. "Does Angela mind?" I asked suddenly aware that I really didn't want to lose her friendship.

"She's not sure what to make of us yet," Edward answered. "But she thinks that if you think that we are alright, then we probably are."

"She trusts you," Jasper added.

I was glad that she did, I wanted her to like the Cullens, though I could never let her get as close to them as I was. Not because I wanted to keep them to myself, but I didn't want her to find out what they were, let alone having to deal with their rules.

I hadn't let go of Emmett yet. I wasn't really hugging him anymore; it was more like I was just resting my head on his shoulder instead of on the table.

"I'm going to miss my friends," I sighed.

"Well keep you busy. After all, your sixteenth birthday is coming up," Alice almost cheered at the prospect.

"I'd rather you didn't. And I don't want a party either," I warned her, though I was pretty sure that fighting against Alice was a lost cause.

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**Okay now I should really study for my exams and start writing my essays. I'll try to have another chapter up this weekend though, I'm pretty sure you guys can guess what it will be about.**

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	8. Chapter 8 Bleep sixteen

**SORRY for the late update. I'm really sorry. It just got crazy with exams, christmas shopping, working and well a bit of writers block. I'm not totally sure about this chapter but my friend told me it wasn't that bad. Let me know what you all think. And I'll try to update again as soon as possible, though i do have a lot of work this week. Finally no more school, at least not untill february, JEEJ!!  
Okay well review please :D**

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**Chapter 8 – Bleep sixteen**

For almost two weeks I had been trying to stop Alice from throwing me a sweet sixteen, so far I had been unsuccessful and I was quickly losing hope as my birthday was only three days away.

"Alice," I said again trying to persuade her. "Please, I don't want a party. I don't care that I can drive now, it's not a big deal."

"Bella, don't be ridiculous," Alice responded. "Anyway it's too late now, what ever I have planned can't be stopped or undone." Alice smiled before she skipped out of the room. I'm sure my face fell. The last thing I wanted after realising that most of my friends weren't my friends anymore, was a party to celebrate my life.

Frustrated I walked up the stairs of the Cullen house, I needed to clear my head, I needed to stare into space. Without thinking I went to Edward's room, now that he and his brothers and sisters had joined me in highschool, I no longer used his room to do my homework but I still felt most comfortable there. Of course he was there, not that I noticed that when I came in and took a seat in front of his window.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" he asked.

"Do you know what Alice is planning for me?" I returned his question.

"Actually, I don't. She thinks that I'm far too likely to tell you and spoil the surprise," Edward answered.

"So, you're no help at all. That wasn't very nice of Alice," I stared out of the window.

"Actually, she slipped up once," I could see Edward's reflection smiling in the window. I quickly turned around, eager to hear what she had let slip. It was hard to catch Alice making a mistake.

"Well?" I asked. But he put his finger to his lips and waited.

"Edward don't you dare tell her!" Alice's voice sounded through the house, far louder than it would be necessary if she only wanted Edward to hear.

"Tell me," I said excited, annoying Alice would be a great way for payback for her secret party plans.

Edward smiled at me again. "Alice, what's it worth to you?"

"That's not fair Edward, you're going to think her offer is so much better than mine," Alice complained as she showed up in the doorway.

I looked at her confused. Was I supposed to offer Edward something for this information? Edward didn't answer Alice's complaint, he just looked at her waiting for her offer.

"Fine, I'll stay out of your closet for a month," she offered.

"What about you Bella, what would you offer for the information I have about your party?" Edward asked, apparently he had already seen my offer in Alice's thought. Too bad I had no idea. What did I have to offer Edward?

Then I realised it, "I'll let you ask me one question, but it can be any question and I promise to answer it honestly. I'll let you know what I'm thinking," I offered.

"Bye Alice," Edward said, smiling broadly.

"Okay," I said, smiling back at him. "Tell me, what do you know?"

"First answer my question," Edward said.

I looked at him, I guess I trusted him enough to stick to his word.

"Al right, what's your question?"

"What are your new nightmares about?" he asked it softly, at first I hoped I had misheard him. How could he know about my nightmares having changed? I was sure I hadn't mentioned them to anyone.

"I don't know what you are talking about Edward."

"You promised to answer honestly Bella," Edward reminded me.

I sighed. "How did you know?"

"I watch you sleep sometimes," he said it as if it was nothing.

"Excuse me? You watch me sleep?"

"Nights are long and boring Bella. And I live in a house with three married couples, I'd rather not hear their thoughts at night," Edward answered.

"So you come and watch me sleep, I doubt that is interesting."

"It is rather interesting actually, you sleeptalk. Remember?" Of course I remembered, it was something I had done my entire life. If you asked Charlie, the first time I said 'dada' was while I was sleeping.

"Oh come on Edward, that's just my subconscious babbling nonsense."

"I don't think it's nonsense."

"Fine, now tell me what information you have about the party," I pressed, I didn't want to know what I had been saying at night.

"You didn't answer my question yet Bella."

I stared at him silently, not sure if it was worth it. "It's just Aro again, the dreams aren't anything new."

"But they are different from before we went to Italy, aren't they?"

"Not really," I tried to lie.

"You're a horrible liar, Bella," Edward said, though he smiled warmly. "I know the dreams are different. You're twisting and turning while you sleep again, you stopped doing that long before we went to Italy."

"It really is just Aro again, following me through unrecognisable streets."

"What is different about them Bella?" Edward pushed.

I didn't want to tell him, he would spend far too much time wondering why my dreams had changed. I guessed I could really go without knowing what he knew about what Alice was planning.

"Bella?"

I took a deep breath and stood up from my place on the floor. Before I even made it to the door Edward had taken hold of my wrist and turned me around to face him. I forced my eyes away from his face.

"Bella, you promised."

"It's not important," I whispered. How much I wished that it was nothing, that my dreams didn't scare me senseless.

"Bella," he said my name softly and it pulled me in. It made me look him in the eye, suddenly I couldn't breath. It was only a second but the damage was done. I screamed at myself in my head. No, Edward was like a brother to me. It could never be anything other than that. I blinked repeatedly as I tried to clear my head, to make it stop thinking things it shouldn't be.

"Bella, please tell me what you are dreaming about," Edward coaxed again. But by now I was puddy in his hands. He could have asked me anything and I would have answered. I had a bigger secret to protect now.

"You aren't there," I answered him softly. "You and Emmett, you aren't there to stop Aro from coming after me."

He hugged me close to him, "I'm so sorry Bella." At first the reasonable part of my brain tried to stop me from hugging him back, but that other part won and put my own arms around him. "Trust me Bella, we will always be there for you. Aro won't ever hurt you, I promise."

I swallowed and forced myself to let go of him.

"I know," well that was a half truth. I knew that they would always try to be there. I turned around, again heading for the door.

"Don't you want to stare out the window some more?" Edward asked, I could hear him smiling. "Or do you want to know what Alice tried to do for you birthday."

He had my attention then. "Spill it," I said as I quickly took a seat in his desk chair.

"She wanted to buy you a car, but Charlie wouldn't let her," Edward said, smiling broadly.

I gasped, "She wanted to do what? Has she lost her mind completely?"

"Charlie stopped her remember that part," Edward said, the emotion on his face was clear. He thought this was all really funny.

"I'm going to have to thank him for that," I said making a mental note of it. "I need to talk to Alice, I don't want a party." I stood up again, I needed to find a way to stop Alice.

"Uhm, you might want to wait with thanking Charlie," Edward said.

"What? Why? Oh no, what has he done?"

"I don't think I should tell you that. I'm not supposed to know." Edward tapped the side of his head.

"Oh come on, why not tell me? You told me about Alice's plans."

"I don't mind irritating Alice once in a while by ruining her surprise, but I'm not going to ruin Charlie's surprise. He hasn't done anything wrong," Edward explained.

I pouted.

He laughed.

I rolled my eyes.

It didn't help, he still wouldn't tell me what Charlie was planning for me.

A loud roaring sound woke me on my sixteenth birthday. I groaned at the sound, I willed it to stop, it didn't. Stubbornly, I kept my eyes closed and pulled my pillow of my head. It didn't help, the roaring was too loud, like it was right outside my window. I rolled of off my bed and with my eyes still closed I walked towards the window. There, I blinked quickly and shook my head to clear it from sleep. I was pretty sure that I was still asleep as I realised what was making all that noise. There was a faded red truck in the front drive and it had a big bow on it. Next to it, Charlie was looking up at my window. He was smiling brightly, apparently proud of himself. I waved at him as a tall boy got out of the passenger side of the car. I didn't recognise him, or the older man in the drivers' seat.

I threw on some clothes and went downstairs.

"Dad, what is this?" I asked as I stepped out of the front door.

"It's your birthday present," Charlie said. He was no longer smiling, he knew full well that I didn't like gifts, let alone expensive ones.

"I love it, dad," I wasn't lying, I couldn't. I really did, it fit me. It was so much better than any car Alice would have gotten me, and I was sure she was going to hate this one. It wasn't pretty, it didn't look fast but it looked unbreakable and solid.

Charlie was smiling again as I hugged him tight. "Can I drive it to school?"

"Bella, you don't have a license yet," Charlie warned. Of course, the daughter of the chief of police couldn't drive a car without a drivers' license.

"It was worth a shot," I smiled. "Who are this?" I asked, looking at the boy and the older man who was now sitting in a wheelchair besides the car.

"This is Billy and his son Jacob," Charlie introduced. "They gave me the truck for a good price."

"Oh, thank you. It's great," I said before I hugged them too. Weird, I usually wasn't hugging perfect strangers. At that moment the Cullens drove around the corner of the street. "I should go eat something before they tow me off to school." I ran back into the house to have a quick breakfast.

When I came back outside most of the Cullens looked horrified as they looked over the car. Rosalie especially, seemed physically hurt by the truck. Alice quickly swallowed her feelings about the car and skipped to my side.

"Happy birthday Bella," she said kissing my cheek.

"Thanks, I guess," I sighed, the truck had been a good beginning of the day, it was too much but it was Charlie, I could never deny him anything. But I highly doubted that it would stay that the day would stay good, that the truck would be the only gift or that it would have been the only moment in which I was the centre of attention.

"Cheer up Bella, birthdays are supposed to be happy," Jasper said and I suddenly felt all warm and giggly.

"So I've been told," I tried to sound annoyed but Jaspers little wave of happiness made that impossible. "Gotta go to school dad, I love the truck," I reinsured Charlie, again giving him a hug before getting into the waiting Volvo.

That day at school everyone wished me a happy birthday, all I wanted to do was hide away in some dark corner so people would leave me alone. Why were they all making such a big deal out of my birthday? It wasn't a happy day, not for me. It was the one day out of the year that I missed having my mother around most, that I hoped most for a chance to know her. By the time we came back to the Cullen house, I had gotten numb from all the birthday wishes and hugs, even Jaspers' tries to make me feel better had stopped working. I walked straight through the door and up to Edwards' room.

After a while Esmee sat next to me in front of the window. She didn't say anything, out of all the Cullens she knew me best. I stared out the window for what felt like hours. I didn't cry. I had cried enough tears on my previous birthdays to know that they didn't help, that they didn't make me feel better, only made me look worse.

As the sun set, Esmee finally asked me if I wanted to go downstairs. I nodded and slowly got up to walk down the stairs. The other Cullens were all there, waiting, frozen in place. Alice wasn't even smiling.

"I'm sorry," I started but before I could even say what I was sorry for Alice was hugging me gently.

"It's okay, really Bella. Today is about you Bella, but that only means that you should be able to do whatever you want," she said softly.

"Uhm Alice, then I really don't want a birthday party," I looked at her shyly, unsure how she would cope with that.

"Not even if this is it?" she said, indicating the entire family sitting in the living room.

"What? This is it? You didn't plan a whole big shebang?" I asked surprised and truly hoping that it was true.

"Of course not, I know you would hate that."

"Thank you, this is perfect," I said as I hugged her again. "Please tell me there are no gifts."

"Uhm, only a few little ones. Really nothing big, not like the car I wanted to get you. Please let me replace that thing Charlie got you," she pleaded.

"No way, Alice. I love that truck, it's great," I said shocked. All the Cullens looked at me in disgust. "And it would hurt Charlie if I let you replace his gift."

"Fine, that is an excuse I can live with, for a little while at least."

I looked around the room, apparently the others agreed with Alice. "Okay, let the horror of gifts began."

"Mine first," Rosalie volunteered. She got up, gave me a soft hug and handed me an envelope. Inside, there was a card saying: Personal Mechanic.

I laughed, it was very Rosalie and I liked it a lot. Nothing materialistic or expensive.

"That truck will undergo a transformation," Rosalie promised.

"Not the outside!" I warned. "You can work on the engine and stuff."

"And stuff? Bella, I'm going to teach you to appreciate the inner workings of a car."

"Do you have to?" I asked sceptically. She nodded. "Okay."

"Next," Carlisle announced as he stood up from the couch. "Here you go Bella." I opened the small package and was amazed at the beautiful, clearly old, book. "I thought you should try the other sister." It was Jane Eyre from Charlotte Brontë, my copy from Wuthering Heights had been besides my bed for years now.

"I love it Carlisle."

"It's from Esmee too," he said quickly. He was too quick for my taste and it made me wonder.

"Please say that it isn't an early edition," I begged.

"It's not a one of a kind," Esmee offered. I sighed but let it slip for once.

The others all too gave me small gifts, though I wasn't sure that Alice was telling the truth when she said that the small party was her gift. I would check my closet for traces of new clothes when I got home.

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**So what did you guys think? Let me know please, cause i'm really unsure about this chapter. To me it felt a bit all over the place, i don't know.  
Please review please review please review please review please review please review please review please review please review please review please review please review**


	9. Authors Note, Sorry!

**I'm sorry I always hate it when someone posts nothing but a stupid authors note. I just wanted to let you guys know what's going on and why it's taking me so long to update. ****I have extreme writers block for this story, or maybe (hopefully) it's just this chapter that I'm working on. But I'm hoping that I can now again focus on it and actually finish this chapter…**

**In the mean time I got the Prince Caspian dvd for Christmas and that inspired me to finish a Narnia fanfic which I had lying around. That story is now finished and I've uploaded the first two chapters. If you like my writing, I hope you will read that story as well. It's called: It Started Out As A Feeling.**

**Oh and if you have something that you would really like to see in the upcoming chapters for this twilight story, please let me know, maybe your ideas will get rid of my writers block!**

**So please read the Narnia Fanfic and I hope you guys don't hate me for posting a stupid Authors Note.**


	10. Chapter 9 Hidden Messages

**I'm soooo sorry for not updating earlier, school's been insane, so insane even that i've had to push back my graduation for an entire year (okay i could have gone for 6 months but i want to go on holiday in september...) I know it's been way toooo long since i updated this story but today i finally got some real inspiration for it again and finally finished this chapter. i hope you like it.  
because i wanted to get this chapter out to all of you as fast as i could now that i had it written, it has not been beta-ed or preread by my friend, so just read over the grammar and spellings mistakes, thanks...**

**Hope you enjoy :D**

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Chapter 9 – Hidden Messages

Even after I had told Edward about the new version of my dreams, they didn't change. Actually even the gigantic teddy bear that was wearing a shirt that said "Emmett" didn't change them either. I now locked my window; the last thing I wanted was for Edward to find me dreaming again. Of course it would be even worse if I were to wake up and find him there. Being upset tended to make me spill my guts and that was one thing I could no longer do with Edward. My feelings would stay hidden just like Aro's letter. My feelings for Edward that had started the day I told him about my dreams, hadn't changed. I did my best to push them away, to not think of him at all. Worst of all was when both Jasper and Edward were near me. Edward might not have been able to hear my thoughts but Jasper would surely notice my feelings. So I had started to avoid them, especially when they were together which, lucky for me, wasn't often.

It helped that I could now drive myself to school, not that the Cullens agreed with that.

"Why would you drive yourself when you can ride with us?" Alice had asked.

I had given some silly excuse of standing on my own two feet. They had bombarded me with reasons to ride with them; pollution, lack of speed and of course that the truck was, according to them, too ugly to benefit my image. But I had kept to my word and driven myself to school from the day I legally could. One of the Cullens would still always ride with me, even if the slow pace bored them to the brink of death (lucky them that even boredom can't end their existence). They were afraid the truck would break down in the middle of nowhere or that I, with my slow human reflexes, would get into an accident.

So far I was still lucky enough that Edward drove his Volvo everyday and the others rotated on driving with me. But for some reason my luck changed.

"Let's go," Edwards' voice came from down the stairs. I faced myself with shock on my face as I looked in the mirror. I quickly brushed my hair and headed downstairs, hoping that I could control the emotions that showed on my face.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I saw him sitting in the small kitchen.

"Rosalie wanted to drive," he explained.

"The Mercedes?" I asked appalled by the thought of the car.

"Yeah, so much for trying to fit in here," he laughed. "Did you eat yet?"

"No, but we're running late." I took a granola bar out of a cabinet and headed for the door. So far, so good, all I had to do was not think about who I was talking to, who was about to sit next to me. Right, as if I could shut down my brain for that long. I started my truck and it came alive with a loud roar. I liked the sound, no I loved the sound, I thought it gave ample warning to those who knew of my clumsiness to prepare for my arrival.

"I don't remember you being this quiet on our drives to school," Edward commented.

"I like it, it gives me some extra time to wake up," I answered, keeping myself focused on the road.

"Does your radio work yet?"

"No, Rose has been working on the engine I think, she believes it's the most important part of the car," I replied. "Why are you so in need of sound? I thought you might enjoy the quiet for once."

"It's too quiet, I'm not used to it any more," he shrugged.

"Well, look at that. An unnerved vampire," I smiled and mistakenly let my eyes wander to him. He was smiling at me, apparently he thought I had made a good joke. But now I couldn't take my eyes away from him anymore. I'm sure I stared at him dreamily. He always looked so good, I loved his messy hair and his golden eyes.

"Shit Bella!" Edward exclaimed as he took hold of the wheel of the car and jerked it to the left. "Pay attention to the road, this is exactly why one of us is always riding with you!"

We missed a tree on the side of the road, only barely. I mentally scolded myself, how could I have been so stupid to do the exact thing I told myself I wouldn't?

The moment Edward had yelled at me I had taken my foot of the gas and we now rolled to a stop at the side of the road. Edward was still holding the wheel, steering from the passengers' seat.

I blinked several times, trying to get my focus back from him to the road.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I got it now," and placed my foot back on the gas and my hands back on the wheel. After that I got us to school safely.

Though by the time our biology class came around I knew that my day was definitely not going to get any easier.

"The papers I'm handing out," Mr Banner spoke, "will explain to you what this weeks' project is all about. Now I want to be able to see that both partners did an equal amount of work on this. And yes, I will be able to tell when this isn't the case," he warned.

My eyes flicked to Edward's as I couldn't believe that now, right now, Mr Banner had to choose to make us do projects. Why couldn't he have thought of that before I started to see Edward as more than a friend or an older brother?

Edward smiled at me, sure for him this would be a walk in the park (a sunless walk in the park) but for me it would be pure torture. There was no way that I could escape being around him now and then there was still the problem of focussing when he was around. I tried to smile back, though I'm not sure I could properly hide the fear I felt for the upcoming time we had to spend together.

"So, how much of this project am I doing?" I asked Edward as I met him at my car to drive to his house. I walked straight to the drivers-side of the car and didn't even look at him.

"Half, at least," Edward said getting into the passenger-seat.

"Can't you do it while I sleep?" I asked, I hadn't even read the assignment yet, but spending time with Edward would not help my situation, especially if I wanted to keep him in the dark about my feelings.

"No, it really requires both of us to work on it. Why are you so unwilling to work on this project with me?" Edward inquired. I focused my eyes on the road. He couldn't read my mind, but sometimes he was so perceptive that it almost seemed like he could.

Keeping my eyes away from him made it easier to come up with a quick lie. "It has nothing to do with you, I just don't feel like working on a project is all."

"Are you sure that is it or have you already started on the project and are right now collecting data, using me as a lab rat?" Edward asked. I felt his gaze on me, as if he was studying my behaviour.

"I don't know what you're talking about Edward, I haven't even read the assignment yet," I told him as I drove up the Cullens' driveway.

"You sure about that?" Edward asked again.

"Yeah, pretty sure." I drove my truck up to the house and got out, ending our little banter. I had no idea what Edward was talking about, me starting on a project before I even got home. The thought of doing any homework what-so-ever before I had relaxed for at least an half an hour was just nuts.

Half an hour later, right on cue really, Edward walked into the livingroom, where I was relaxing on the couch, watching some stupid daytime TV. He let a piece of paper float down into my lap, like the leaves floated from the trees in the fall.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Read and find out," he grinned. I tore my eyes away from his face and focussed them on the piece of paper. It was the biology project. I swallowed hard as I read it, was this a painful joke? The main question for our project stood in bold in the dead centre of the piece of paper:

**Who is better at intercepting and interpreting hidden messages, men or women?**

_Silent hints, a quick movement of the eye or an almost inaudible sound. We all use these hidden messages to try to convey certain feelings or thoughts to others but often they are misinterpreted or missed completely. Research what sex is more adapt at understanding these hidden messages._

In other words, Edward would now be on the look out for any hidden messages that I might make, even if I make them unwillingly. Crap.

"Lovely," I smiled weakly.

"I think the guys are going to win," Edward said. "Cause I totally caught that message. Why don't you like the assignment?"

So my acting needed some work, quickly. I smiled at Edward, well I actually looked over his head so that his face wouldn't distract me. "Actually Edward, I think the guys are going to lose, cause you just completely misinterpreted that message. The hidden message was sarcastic, making the spoken message the actual message. In other words I do like the assignment," I said quickly, adding a, what I hoped to be, sincere smile at the end of my little speech. Edward looked confused, good. "I'm going to get something to drink," I added swiftly and almost darted out of the room, before Edward could catch me in another unwillingly send hidden message. This project was going to be hell, complete and total hell.

"Hey Bella," a voice made me freeze in mid-step as I walked into the kitchen. This was not good, I had avoided this situation for almost a month, but here it was. My mind was still reeling from Edward and here was Jasper sensing the crazy emotions roaming through my body. I swallowed and steadily walked to the fridge, grabbing a coke before turning back to Jasper. I tried to play dumb as I saw him scrutinising my emotions, but I was pretty sure it was a lost cause.

"What's up Jasper?" I smiled.

"I was about to ask you the same thing, you are all over the place," he answered.

"I'm fine, really great," that's what I said, but I'm pretty sure the hidden message I was portraying was something like this 'please don't notice, please don't realise, please don't think, please hide your thoughts, please please please'.

And not a second later I was really in for it and so was Jasper as Edward walked into the room and my eyes automatically sought his. Though his presence calmed me and took away some of my more distracting feelings, it also made one feeling stronger than any other. Jasper's eyes grew large for less than a second as he realised my feelings for Edward. All I could do was hope that Edward hadn't noticed.

We were all silent for what seemed like minutes, but were probably only seconds. The tension in the room was thick but I wasn't sure with what. I caught a glimpse between Edward and Jasper, and it almost seemed as if Edward was asking Jasper not to say anything. I had to get out of there before Edward would be able to read my emotions through Jasper.

"I need some fresh air," I blurted out before I quickly made my way out the backdoor. I was afraid someone would follow me, ask me for an explanation but no one came. I needed to be in full control of myself before I went back inside. I needed to be in control of my breathing, of my emotions, my thoughts and even my unconscious actions. Nothing about me could show how I really felt and what I really thought. When I finally went back inside Jasper was still sitting at the kitchen counter. He looked up slowly as he heard the door close behind me. He smiled knowingly. I wanted to ask him if he had let Edward know and what he thought I should do but I couldn't. I couldn't ask him anything, because if I spoke everyone in the house would hear. Stupid vampire-hearing. Completely unexpected, Jasper rose from his seat and gently hugged me. I knew how much effort it took him to be around me, even to be in the same room, and knowing that made this gesture all the more meaningful. Jasper knew what I was feeling and how little I could do about it. As he let me go, there was a small hint in his eyes of something that I couldn't quite place, it almost seemed happy. I didn't understand his hidden message and so I let it go. Better to not understand than to misinterpret.

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**Okay so lay it on me, i'll understand if you send me hate mail for not updating for so long and i will really really try to update again soon but i can't make any promises.  
please review, let me know what you think and once again i'm really really sorry for taking so long with updating.**


	11. Chapter 10 I Don't Understand

I hereby come slowly out of hidding from under my rock to present to you a new chapter in this story... I actually finished this chapter about a month ago but I wanted to wait with uploading till the New Moon movie came out, and today is that day. Yes I saw the movie... my thoughts on it are on my profile... feel free to let me know your thoughts... just no hatemail...  
I am very sorry I am going so slow with this story but my life is crazy busy right now and has been for the last few months... I'm working on my bachelor thesis, going to classes, going to work and trying to have some kind of social life... I hope that after seeing the movie today I might be inspired to write another chapter soonish... maybe i'll start later on tonight even... that's a big maybe though...

Pleas review after reading, cause really those few reviews i got for the last chapter was what finally inspired me to write this chapter.  
I love you all for reading my crazy thoughts and story

Karin

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Chapter 10 – I don't understand

I knew I was in for it the next morning when I found Jasper waiting at my front door to drive to school with me. I barely acknowledged he was there, before I silently crept behind the wheel of my truck. He followed just as silent, though he looked at me constantly. His gaze stopped me from starting the car and instead I lay my head down on the steering wheel, I faced him though I had my eyes closed.

"So you have feelings for Edward, strong feelings, I should say," Jasper said calmly. I grumbled in response. "It's alright you know," he continued. At that my eyes shot open.

"No it's not alright. He's what, a hundred years old? Oh and not to mention immortal, animal blood drinking, not ageing and because of all of these things completely and utterly unattainable for any human girl, especially me. So no, Jasper, it's not alright!" I ranted; quickly giving Jasper all the different excuses I had told myself to quench my feelings for Edward.

"You're frustrations run deep," Jasper simply replied, completely ignoring all the excuses I had given him.

"Please don't shrink me," I sighed.

"But it's what I do best," Jasper grinned, he actually grinned as if this was all hilarious.

"It's not funny, you know."

"It's kind of funny," Jasper answered softly. "Not for me though, your emotions have been of the charts lately. It's a good thing Alice warned me this was coming otherwise Edward would certainly have found out last night."

"So he doesn't know now?" I asked tentatively.

"No Bella, he doesn't have a clue. But I have to ask you, how were you planning on keeping a secret with such emotional baggage?" he asked.

"I don't know, I knew it was a lost cause but I had to try," I answered. "I guess I figured that if I was the only one who knew Edward would never get it out of my head."

"Wrong assumption," Jasper stated as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Wait a minute, Alice knew?" I asked shocked. "How could she know, I didn't make any conscious decisions about how I feel."

"Alice doesn't see someone's decisions, she sees the path they are on or what will come across that path while they are on it. I think your decision to avoid either Edward or me might have put you on a path," Jasper explained.

I sighed, again closing my eyes, as I let Jaspers' words sink in. "What did she see?"

"She saw what happened yesterday and she saw us sitting here, and being late for school," I knew his lasts words were meant to make me smile or at least make me feel a little better. They didn't work.

"Did she see anything else?"

"If Alice thinks you should know what she sees she will tell you."

"So she did see something else, only she either didn't tell you or she asked you not to tell me," I interpreted his words.

"You know, for a sixteen year old human, you're pretty quick on the uptake," Jasper said, again smiling. "We should head for school, or we'll really be late."

I rolled my eyes at his remark and grudgingly started the truck.

At school I saw hidden messages everywhere, the look in someone's eyes, a seemingly dismissive flick of someone's hand, a confused and scrunched up nose and for once I even paid attention to what everyone was wearing. Alice would be proud as I took notice of the messages the clothes were sending and how they were received by others. I avoided Edward at all costs, I lunched in the library claiming research. I even tried to skip biology, mr Banner didn't go for it. During the entire class I felt him staring at me, I refused to look back. I would not send him any message. There were only five minutes left in the class but I'd had enough.

_STOP STARING AT ME!_ I wrote quickly.

_You're supposed to be deciphering the hidden message. Oh and ignoring someone is a message too._ He replied.

_I am not ignoring you, I am paying attention. Stop staring!_

_What's the message?_

_I don't care. I've seen and decoded enough messages today._

He didn't reply again. And the moment to bell announced the end of class, he shot out of the room. "I'm decoding that as being pissed," I said to myself, quickly adding, "And I don't want to know why."

The next morning was true hell. Alice burst into my room like a rabbit on speed and while I pulled the covers over my head for a few more minutes of sleep, she threw clothes on top of me. I grumbled some incoherent sounds as I heard her open her beauty case.

"Up up up, Bella. We have a full day ahead of us and so much to talk about. I doubt we have enough time to cover everything," Alice's musical voice twittered, like a songbird only faster. I grumbled some more in reply.

Before I knew it she pulled covers of my body. The cold air hit me like a bucket of ice water.

"ALICE!" I screeched, blindly grabbing for the sheets that had been thrown out of reach in a far corner of my room.

"If you want to get warm you'll have to get up and take a shower. And don't think I won't just put my hand on your arm to freeze you even further," she smiled sweetly. A sarcastic hidden message, clearly.

Shaking slightly from the cold I rolled myself of the bed and onto my feet, with my eyes barely open I made it to the bathroom. Once there I quickly locked the door and gave serious thought to continue sleeping in the bathtub.

"Get in the shower Bella, or I will make you get in there myself," Alice threatened through the door.

"You can be so pushy Alice," I whined back.

All during breakfast and Bella Barbie Alice didn't speak a word to me about Edward even though she clearly wanted to.

"You know Alice, if there is something you want to talk to me about you should just do it instead of giving me these weird glances. I'm keeping my message interpreting skills for school."

"Oh you're no fun," she pouted.

"Well I don't see why you all like that assignment so much. People should just say what they mean instead of saying one thing and meaning something else. That's how fights start. It's the key ingredient of miscommunication. It's just stupid if you ask me," I ranted as we stepped into my truck.

"But a look can say so much more than words," Alice countered.

"But it will only make sense if it's accompanied by words. A single look can be interpreted in too many different ways. Honestly, eye-contact is just frustrating."

"All eye-contact or just eye-contact with Edward?" Alice asked as she found her way into her preferred topic.

"It would have been nice of you to warn me for that one, you know."

"Warn you for what?" she asked.

"Edward of course. Really, Alice, no good can come from it and it's not funny either. And who else did you tell? Everyone but me?"

"Of course not, don't you trust me?" She asked, sounding hurt. "I only told Jasper because he had to be prepared."

"I do trust you Alice, it would just have been nice to get a heads up about things like this. I have no idea what to do about it. I can't avoid him forever and I definitely can't tell him."

"I couldn't give you a heads up, don't you understand how it works by now. I only knew when you knew. Just be glad Edward was out when I saw it."

"What exactly did you see Alice?"

"Oh you know, just this. You feeling stuff for Edward," she answered quickly almost as if she was unprepared for the question and wasn't sure how to answer. Ha, as if, no one catches Alice by surprise.

"I thought you didn't see feelings, that's Jasper's thing."

"I meant, this, us talking about your feelings for Edward. So tell me about what you are feeling for Edward."

I squeezed my eyes at her, trying to see past her eyes and into her mind. Sometimes I wish I could hear what Edward hears. Alice's words were too vague, too evasive. Then again, I might be going crazy with all the message interpretation I have been doing.

"I don't know Alice. It's just... I don't know. And it was all so sudden, it came out of nowhere. I would have expected something like this to happen maybe in Rome when he was showing me around. Just me and him through the dark streets. You know, the whole romantic setting and all. But no. It happens when he's trying to get information out of my head. Actually when he is bribing me to get information out of my head. Why couldn't he have let it go, why did he have to push me, why did he have to make me open myself up to him?" I ranted and kept on going." And this stupid biology project isn't helping either. I can't tell what is real anymore. It's so damn frustrating!" I could have continued ranting, for hours possibly, but we were still in the truck, still in the driveway of my house and already late for school.

I slipped out of the car and walked around to the passenger seat. Alice looked at me strangely, almost dumbfounded. What was it with her today? I seemed to be surprising her at every corner.

"You drive," I said as I opened the door and pushed her to the other side of the cab, not that she noticed that I was pushing her of course.

I went through the day on auto-pilot. I zoned out of all my classes until the teacher asked specifically for my attention, in other words throwing a heavy book down on my desk or the second favourite, hitting my desk with a ruler. I made no more notes on the hidden messages the people around me were sending each other. I knew most were thinking I was losing it. And sometimes even I thought that. After all, every thought I had today was about him. I was either trying to figure out how it happened, how these feelings had suddenly come up, or I was trying to find out how to deal with those feelings. Talking with Jasper and Alice hadn't helped. At all. They had just pointed out to me what I already knew. Sure, it was nice that I could talk to them about it, that I didn't have to keep it all to myself any more. But really, they hadn't given me any insight into what I was going to do with it all.  
And throughout the day I felt Edward staring at me. I wouldn't have minded if it was the same she's-losing-it stare I got from everyone else that day. But no, his stare was the same as the day before. His stare remained one I couldn't read, couldn't interpret and I couldn't ask him what it meant.

The next day was a little different, thankfully. Emmett was waiting for me in the morning. I sighed with relief at the prospect of having a fun drive to school. Emmett always cheered me up and not having to discuss my feelings for Edward with anyone first thing in the morning definitely helped to better my mood. Another good thing was that today was the last day of the project. The last day of me analysing people's expressions and the reactions they received in return. I never wanted to think about hidden messages again. Interpreting someone's facial expressions was a nightmare and probably one of the most unreliable forms of science I had ever heard of. I hoped this meant that Edward would stop staring as well. I ignored the feelings that popped up every time he was nearby and mostly I still tried to avoid him. At the end of the day I gave him all the notes I had made for the project. He would write the paper since I had done the analysis. After all, we had to divide the work equally and it wouldn't have been fair to let him interpret the hidden messages our classmates were sending, since he could pick the meaning straight from their brain.

I was glad the project was over, that everything could go back to normal now. Too bad I still shared all my classes with Edward. And he didn't stop staring.

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Thanks for reading, please review... I'll go back hidding under my rock till I have another chapter for you to read^^


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